Growing beans: Part three
by KariFable
Summary: The third and final installment of Skar and Fable's story. Find out what happened in the aftermath of the battle, what the future holds for the pack and the Cullen's and if Skar and Fable will ever get their happily ever after.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey anyone who's still with us at this point and sorry it took forever to crank this one out. hope you enjoy._

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Growing beans: Part three

Chapter 1

I shouldn't keep doing this myself, I was slowly driving myself crazy and I knew it, but it was inevitable. Not only inevitable but unstoppable. It was like that asteroid that passed by the earth not long ago, people should have been freaked the fuck out about that in my opinion, but no all these scientist and space nerds and NASA guys were like 'oh no big deal'. They were confident it would just skim by us, how could they just be so fucking calm though? Surely any number of things could have changed, could have altered its course.

Like all things in life nothing is certain until it's actually happened, weather it was a big ass rock flying towards us, the weather guy telling me it would be sunny, or that things were finally going to be okay now. There was no way of knowing, I had a close friend who was a Psychic and there was still no way to ever be sure.

The fight was over, but I still felt like I was on edge. Maybe I just didn't know how to come down. One thing I did know was the nightmares were getting worse, they were becoming more frequent and I knew I was starting to scare the hell out of Skar.

He kept pressing me to go see Carlisle but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, for some reason the mere thought of being anywhere near a Vampire right now brought on waves of terror. I was beginning to wonder if shape shifters got sick, like really sick. Maybe there was something wrong with me? I didn't feel myself at all lately I just felt wrong, and there was this ever pressing feeling of doom hanging over me like cloud. And just like a cloud it seemed to follow me everywhere.

I hated that everyone was so relaxed and okay, I wanted my friends to be happy, I wanted to believe them that it was over now but I couldn't let it go.

Hershel, Cheryl's mate, and a member of the Bette Noire that none of us could remember killing. Skar and Seth had chased him to the coast once on the night of Kaden and Elissa's Bachelor/Bachelorette parties. But no one recalled seeing him on the battle field. That didn't necessarily mean he was out there, he could have easily been killed by Rufus or Jaide, one of the friends we'd lost in the battle. The death toll was huge; it was more than plausible to think one of us had just forgotten we'd done it or not remembered piling his corpse with the others before we struck the match. But to me, they sounded like some pretty big maybes.

I told myself I was being stupid, that there was no danger anymore, it felt like I told myself those very words a thousand times a day but I still couldn't believe them. I felt like I was the only one who saw things the way they really were, but that was the thing, I wasn't sure that I was right, I could never be sure. There was no way I'd ever know for certain if Hershel had perished that day like the rest of his family.

I sigh and roll out of the bed, Skar wasn't next to me, he must have already left for patrol. That or my kicking and screaming in my sleep had driven him to sleep on the floor again. I couldn't feel him near, and a quick glance over his edge of the bed confirms my first thoughts, he's already gone.

I padded downstairs still feeling like shit, I might have been sleeping but the night terrors were still leaving me exhausted anyway. I was just pouring myself a cup of coffee when there was a knock at the front door. I wandered over to the door and saw the UPS guy through the glass; he smiles and waves his clipboard at me. "Morning" I say forcing a smile and taking the clipboard and pen from his hand

"Miss Lushnovic?" he asks and I nod

"That's me"

"Where do you want this?" he asks gesturing towards the large wooden crate he had strapped to a trolley

"Oh just leave it in the kitchen" I say

"Are you sure? It's pretty heavy" he says looking over my slight frame his eyes lingering a little too long over my ass, I raise an eyebrow and he quickly snaps his eyes back to my face and blushes slightly.

"Its fine, my boyfriend can move it for me when he get's home" I tell him and he flushes a little bit redder. "Is that everything?" I ask handing back the signed papers and he nods. He gives the paper work a quick once over and smiles at me.

"Thanks Miss Lushnovic" he says then steps over to the door, he passes a tired looking Micah, as my nephew stumbles sleepily into my kitchen.

"Do I smell coffee?" Micah yawns and I laugh.

"In the pot" I tell him tilting my head in that direction. Micah shuffles off that way and I take my own coffee to sit at the table, crossing my legs and shifting my dressing gown to cover my exposed thighs. I take a sip of the hot liquid and rub my closed eyelids while I ponder if there was a brand of sleeping pills that were proven to stop dreams. I read somewhere that cheese makes people dream, I make a mental note to make sure I don't eat any cheese form now on, thought I don't eat that much of it anyway. I sigh and take another sip.

Micah sits in the chair opposite me with an open box of Lucky charms, no bowl, no spoon and no milk. "Where's this one from?" Micah asks nodding at the crate that just arrived.

"Soho" I tell him swallowing a mouthful of coffee

"New York?"

"London" I shake my head.

"What's in it?" he asks and I shrug my shoulders

"I don't remember the sixties was a very weird time for me" I sigh

"Really? Sounds like you don't actually remember what you and my Dad got up to in London in the sixties" he smirks and I grin back.

"Well times were changing and I'm not gonna lie there was a lot of parties"

"You're terrible, such an awful example you set for me" he laughs and I roll my eyes.

"Shut up" I smirk.

"I think what you're doing is a good thing by the way" he says and smiles at me, I frown.

"And what am I doing" I ask

"Having all of your things moved here so Skar will feel less insecure and stop worrying that you'll take off" he says

"He's over that, he knows I'm not going anywhere" I say

"I know that, but emptying storage lockers and safety deposits from all over the world is a nice touch" he says and I grin. It was the main reason I was having my stuff shipped to Washington, Micah was right but it was also nice to have some familiar belongings back in my life. "Hey I was wondering why you don't ask Skar to move in." Micah asks and I feel my eyebrows rise

"What are you talking about move in?" I ask "Skar already lives here" I shrug and Micah laughs

"Does he, he might sleep here every night but none of his stuff's here is it" he says, I glance around the open plan living space and he's right, it's all me.

"Mich? If Skar wanted his stuff here he'd say something. Maybe he just doesn't have a lot stuff" I say and Micah chuckles

"Yeah maybe, look all I'm saying is maybe you should make sure he knows he lives here, because I think he thinks he just sleeps over" Micah says. I ponder his words for a while, as I finish my coffee, maybe he's right.

"You ok?" Micah asks after a while and I fake a smile

"Sure, don't I look it?" I ask

"No you just look a little tired that's all" he shrugs

"I didn't sleep well" I tell him.

"Why not?"

"I just didn't" I snap suddenly before I can stop myself and Micah recoils slightly, I sigh and feel bad instantly. I shrug it off with a smile. "I was thinking I'd make meatballs tonight, are you around for dinner?" I ask

"Yeah" he says after a second "That would be great, Thanks Fable"

"No biggie, I need to go into town and get some groceries though" I tell him "Do you need anything while I'm there?" I ask

"No" he says quietly and I know he's treading lightly because I snapped at him.

"Ok well I'm gonna go take a shower and get dressed, don't you have school or something?" I say and he frowns at me

"Fable its Sunday" he says

"Oh, right of course it is" and I laugh it off like it was a silly mistake. This was getting out of hand now, I was missing entire days, I needed to do something, anything.

I made it upstairs and into the shower, but before long my knees go weak and I find myself sat in the cubicle crying with my knees tucked up to my chest. The worst part is that I don't even know why.

I took Skar's mustang into Fork's, I was yet to get a vehicle of my own and he didn't need it while he was wolf anyway. I was driving along when I suddenly had to hit the breaks; out of nowhere a vision flashed my mind like a flashback only these images weren't my memories. They were mine in a sense that I'd dreamed them they'd just never actually happened.

_I can't walk, my legs broken beyond repair. I scramble backwards across the floor from my attacker clutching something in my arms, I clutch whatever it is against my chest desperate to stop my attacker from taking it .I'm in my bedroom, a low growl fills the room, it sounds like a wolf, my wolf. _

I scream and the car screeches to a stop as the breaks take effect. An overtaking car honks its horn at me at the Station wagon from behind passes too, the owner flipping me off as he goes. Tears overwhelm me and I sit there crying my eyes out for the second time that morning.

I have no idea what just happened to me or what that was, but the nightmares have never happened in the day before atleast not while I was awake. I try to push the hideous thoughts away and tell myself I would not let them control me. Maybe I'd walked this earth for too long and now I was starting to loose my mind, it was unnatural for a person to live this long and maybe this was a side effect of that.

Whatever was wrong with me I hoped I could fix it and I hoped I could fix it fast? Because I genuinely didn't know how much more I could take. I'd been depressed before, hell after Russ died I'd been down right suicidal with grief and guilt but even then in my darkest hours, I'd never once felt like my mind was becoming unhinged.

After sitting there by the roadside for the longest time I finally worked up the courage to start the car again. I took a deep breath a twisted the key in the ignition, nothing happened no flashes or terrors, so I applied a little gas and still nothing. I calmed myself mentally and told myself I could do this. I brought the clutch up to the bite and the engine began to purr.

I can do this.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I sighed as Teague slammed the door to his trailer in my face. It truly was one step forward three steps back with that boy. I shook my head, made a fist then banged on the door. A second later it swings open again. "I don't want to talk about it I said we could go surfing after patrol if you didn't say her name and you couldn't even make it to the end of the street" he yelled, his eyebrows seemed to knot together more with each word until I thought they were in danger of merging into one.

"Come on Tea she's your imprint" I say and he growls

"You don't think I know that!" he shouts and I roll my eyes

"Tea?"

"No! Do you not see how fucked up that is? Why her?" he says grabbing fistfuls of his hair. I wince and pull his hands down before he gives himself bald patches. Teague was really taking his imprinting badly. I had to admit it couldn't have come at a worse time, he was a mess he'd just lost his brother the only family he had left. But at the same time it could be a really good thing he just needed to let that happen.

In Teague's opinion Whitley was something that had belonged to his brother Jaide, he felt like fate had only choose her for him because Jaide was gone and she could no longer be with the one she was really meant for. There was some sense in his messed up logic for sure. But I was determined to get him to see sense if it was the last thing I did. "Come on man you have to stop thinking like that" I tell him and he huffs angrily "You know as well as I do Jaide didn't imprint on Whitley"

"That's not the point" he sighs, and I groan. "What do you want from me Skar?" he asks

"I want you to stop being such a dick and let this girl into your life" I say

"Why?"

"Because I think she'd be really good for you" I say and his eyes narrow at me

"My brother just died, I do not have to do anything for anyone, especially make time for one of Jaide's little whores" he seethes

"Teague?" I say frowning at him "Whitley's not like that, she's your imprint"

"I don't care!"

"You don't care that you're hurting her right now?" I ask and I see a tremor run through him and I know I'm dangerously close to pushing him to phase.

"No, I don't" he says, he's my best friend I know he's lying

"You're a crappy liar and a crappy imprint. She's confused and hurting right now, you could make that go away" I say to him

"Yeah? Well if you haven't noticed we're all having a bit of a shit time right now, why should she be any different?" he shrugs

"Don't be an asshole"

"Fuck you Skar" he says shaking his head and then the door slams in my face for the second time.

I decided to leave my surf board strapped to the roof of Teague's car. I can pick it up another day. Instead I sigh defeated for the day; I'll try knocking some sense into my best friend another time. I make for the cover of the trees and undress, I'm only wearing a T-shirt and some board shorts so it doesn't take me long, then I'm off running in the direction of Fable's house.

My mind drifted to her like it always did when I ran, it was the time when my mind was clearest but no matter how clear my mind was I was always thinking of my beautiful Fable. Things had been good between us after the battle was won; we'd been stronger and more united than ever up until recently. When her nightmares started, she still wouldn't tell me what they were about but I knew they were bad. She kicks me awake in the dead of the night while she thrashes and struggles in her sleep, crying and screaming at the top of her lungs, I don't know how Micah sleeps though it. If I wake her up it just happens again if she manages to fall back to sleep, if I try to hold her she panics even more. A couple of times I've tried that and she phased right there in the bed unable to phase back for hours. It's been absolutely killing me to do it but if I just leave her, she will eventually settle by herself, she still whimpers for the rest of the night and cries into her pillow sometimes she'll have the nightmare again later that night but I don't know what else to do.

I'm at my wits end, I love her but she's terrifying me, I just don't know how to help her. I want to talk to someone about it, anyone but she made me promise to keep it a secret, I think she's embarrassed about it, I think she thinks it makes her appear weak. But if we just told Carlisle he could help her I know he could. At first I thought it was just another side effect of the drug Ivan had shot her with, but he'd injected Ness with the same serum and as far as I knew she wasn't suffering from any night terrors. In fact Jake and Ness seemed happier than ever.

I would try and talk to her about it again tonight, it would be hard and Fable would hate it but I had to keep trying eventually she'd let me through, she always does.

I can smell spaghetti and meatballs as I arrive outside Fable's, the homey smell of tomatoes and hot bread fills my nose and I sigh happily. Fable was actually a surprisingly good cook, and seeing her in the kitchen was hot as hell. I'd never admit it but seeing my girl do anything remotely housewifey drove me insane. One time a couple of weeks ago I came home to find her vacuuming and I just lost it I just had to have her right there and we made love on the kitchen floor. I dress again and let myself in through the kitchen door. I walk up behind Fable as she stirs something on the stove and wrap my arms around her waist, planting kisses on the space between her shoulder and neck.

She smells so good; the end of summer and her scent still reminds me of Christmas. I breathe her in and let my lips trail up to her ear lobe; she shivers and relaxes against me. She turns to look at me over her shoulder and smiles at me, I can tell the smile is genuine but like it hasn't for days now it doesn't quite touch her eyes. Fable rests her hand against my chin, gently caressing my stubble then pulls me down to kiss her.

The kiss grows heated after a moment until I hear Micah clear his throat behind us; we both turn to look at him. Micah's sat on the island with a can of energy drink in his hand. "Yeah I'm still here" he says then takes a swig of his drink. I roll my eyes then kiss Fable on the cheek.

"Hey Kitten" I whisper

"Hey there Cowboy" she smiles and I laugh, I remember the first time she called me that when we drove to Montana to find Micah.

"This smells great" I tell her

"Well it's almost ready" she says

"Great I'm just gonna get changed" I kiss her once more and it last a little longer than I intended it to before I jog upstairs.

"Mich can you set the table?" I hear Fable call, and as suspected Micah grumbles.

When I come back down, Micah is sat at the table and Fable hands me a beer from the fridge, they both fall quiet and glance at each other. I look between them and raise an eyebrow. I just got that feeling when you walk into a room and you know people have been talking about you. They must have been really whispering though because I didn't hear anything. "What? What's going on?" I ask looking from one cat to the other.

"Nothing" Fable shrugs as she serves the food onto three plates.

"If it's ok with you two I'm gonna take mine to my room" Micah says grabbing one of the plates and making for the door.

"That plate better find its way back here!" Fable shouts after him and I can't help but smirk at them

"It will!" he calls as the back door shuts.

Fable moves around the kitchen island and places the two plates of food on the small dining table in the corner. "So there's something I wanted to talk to you about" Fable says as she sits down at the table, and I follow and sit down with her. Yes! She's agreed to go see Carlisle. I'm so happy she came to this decision; I've been so worried about her.

"Oh ok?" I say pretending I don't now what she's about to say.

"It occurred to me today that there's something I might not have been overly clear about and I really want us to be on the same page about this" she says twisting some spaghetti onto her fork. This doesn't feel like it's going where I thought it would but I say nothing for the moment and decide to see where this goes.

"On the same page about what?" I ask then shove a meatball in my mouth and oh my God it's delicious.

"Well you're here a lot, like every night really. I know you already know this but Micah told me I should make sure it was clear to you that this is your home too" she says and I pause with my fork half way to my mouth. Did I hear her right?

"It is?" I ask and Fable smiles.

"Ok so it wasn't clear" she says and shakes her head. "Skar? I want you to move in, like if you want to, I want you to move your stuff in"

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" I grin and she rolls her eyes

"Yeah I am, is that ok?" she asks and I laugh

"Yes, it's very ok. Thought I don't really have much stuff" I tell her for some reason she laughs

"That's ok, I figured" she says then takes another bite.

I know I should confront her about going to see Carlisle and I consider doing just that but she's giving me this beaming smile, she's happy and I don't want to spoil that. All I want is for her to be happy so I can harass her about this later. For now I'll just enjoy spending time with my girlfriend. My girlfriend who I live with I think to myself and grin.

Her screams fill my ears and I jolt upright, I reach out for her but she's not there. I quickly switch the light on and see Fable curled up in the corner hugging herself and rocking backwards and forwards. I cross the room as fast as I can and slide down the wall to sit next to her. I pull her against me and she cries, I stroke her hair and hush her but its hours before she can even talk. "I'm so sorry" she says still out of breathe from her tears.

"Don't its ok" I tell her but she shakes her head "Fable just talk to me? Let me help you" I plead with her

"I can't... I..." she sighs and buries her face in my chest. "I understand if you can't handle this but..."

"I am not going anywhere. Maybe we could talk to Carlisle..." I start but she cuts me off

"I don't need a vampires help" she tells me and I frown. What was she talking about the Cullen's weren't like other Vampires, we could trust them, she knew that.

"Fable? Carlisle is our friend"

"Skar please?" she begs "No vampires ok? Please?"

I sigh, I can't deny her "Ok" I say and hug her tighter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

My head was pounding, for some reason today being in my cat form was really starting to hurt. It felt the same way as when I had venom in my system, but I didn't, the venom had worn off weeks ago.

I slowed to jog and let Gypsy go on ahead. I was glad it was coming to the end of our morning patrol I wasn't sure how much more I could handle. I felt sick, my stomach kept churning uncomfortably and I was overly hot. I came to a complete stop and I took few deep and calming breathes. What the hell is happening to me?

When patrol is up I stop by a tree and shift back onto human feet, it feels good to be back in this form, I remember a time when that was the other way around. I sigh and pull the clothes out of my ankle cord, Gypsy walks over to me dressed, she tilts her head at me and sends me a concerned look. "Is everything ok?" she asks and I smile

"Of course" I say then button up the denim shorts I'm wearing and pulling the hem of my purple tank top down a little.

"Well that was another uneventful patr... What was that?" Gypsy suddenly cuts herself off and her head snaps up. I listen carefully but hear nothing.

"What do you hear?" I ask

"There's humans coming"

"It's ok just act normal" I tell her but I can see she's panicking. Nothing happens for a moment and then suddenly too much is happening. Quickening footsteps approach, heavy, solid, as if cased in army boots. The forest comes alive with blurs of black and rustling leaves as slowly we're surrounded and I realise what's happening. Seekers. I turn to Gypsy and she looks frightened. "Ok Gyp just look at me?"

"Fable what's going on? What are they doing?" she asks

"What ever you do don't shift forms, and don't let them know there are others" I tell her and she frowns at me for a second.

"What are we gonna do?" she asks me "Are they Seekers?" she asks and I nod once.

"You fight your way out then run like hell, lead them away from the pack" I tell her. Then our time to prepare is up and men dressed in black swat uniforms approach us, guns aimed right at us.

"Get down on the ground!" the one closest shouts, pistol aimed at my chest. I moved forward knocking the gun out of his hands then I knee him in the stomach, be curls into a ball and I pull off his helmet. I feel a hand roughly grab my shoulder and I spin around catching my attacker in the nose with the helmet.

I glance over my shoulder to make sure Gypsy is doing ok and see her on some guys back kicking and punching. I hit another in the stomach and drop my elbow down hard in-between his shoulder blades. He lets out a winded whine and falls to the floor. I throw the helmet through the air and it meets its target hitting the man sneaking up on Gypsy in the face, he falls backwards as blood sprays everywhere.

"Gypsy!" I shout, her head snaps up to me and as if she understands me perfectly she begins running in my direction. I take off after her the second she passes me and we run we're half way to the state line when we stop to catch our breath.

I watch the trees behind us carefully and I can see Gypsy out of the corner of my eye doing the same thing. Nothing happens, I think we lost them. "What the fuck?" Gypsy finally says breaking the silence.

"You alright?" I ask her and she nods

"I'm fine, you?" she asks. I look down at the gash on my inner thigh; looks like a bullet caught me at some point. But it's just a flesh wound and already starting to heal. Gypsy follows my gaze to the blood flowing down my leg and her eyes wide "Shit Fable!"

"I'm ok" I reassure her but she doesn't look overly convinced.

"What do we do now?" she asks

"Well can't go back that way" I say gesturing at the way we'd just ran from. "They're still in there somewhere" I could hear a road somewhere nearby, a relatively busy one. "What are your feelings on hitchhiking?" I ask and she stares at me.

"Dad always told me to never get in a car with someone I didn't know" Gypsy says and I smile.

"I bet he did, but your a long way from home on human feet. Besides you're a shape shifter I'm sure you can handle yourself with a horny trucker" I tell her and her eyes just widen. I laugh then start leading the way to the road.

"August is gonna lose his shit when he hears about this" Gypsy mutters under breath as she follows after me.

We'd been stood at the roadside for a good half an hour when Gypsy gave up, she plonks herself down on the grass verge and folds her arms across her chest. "Why can't we just phase and run back?" she asks and I roll my eyes. Hadn't we been over this?

"What and run straight back into the seekers?" I sigh

"We'll take a long way around" she shrugs her shoulders but I shake my head

"No we need them to think we ran this way and kept running. The last thing we want is Seekers knowing there's shifters living in La Push" I tell her. Another car drives past ignoring my stuck out arm. Gypsy groans.

"This is hopeless who is going to pick us up? We're barefoot, covered in dirt, you're covered in blood!"

"Good maybe someone will take pity on us" I say as stick my arm out for the huge six wheeler heading towards us. I smile victorious when the truck stops just ahead of us.

Gypsy and I run after the truck and climb into the cab, I sit next to the driver and let Gypsy take the window so she'll feel less uncomfortable. "Where are you girls headed" the trucker asks as he reaches between his legs and not so subtly rearranges his junk. I hear Gypsy whisper the word 'ew' and I try not to cringe. I force a smile

"Vancouver" I tell him he nods

"Fable?" Gypsy says quietly, I turn to her and shush her.

"We can run from there ok?" I say and she nods

"Ok" she agrees then turns to look out of the window.

"So..." the trucker starts and I mentally face palm, I'm gonna have to make small talk with this guy the whole dammed way, I just knew it.

The sky was black by the time we finally got home, when we got to Ness and Jake's the whole pack was there waiting for us, Jake had even let August on the res, of course with an escort of Emmett and Jasper. August ran to Gypsy the second we stepped foot in the back yard, she shifted into human form and hugged herself to him clearly not caring she was naked.

I dressed and approached the house and saw Skar on the porch, his face was set hard and difficult to read, I couldn't tell if he was angry, sad or relieved. I assumed it was a combination of all three. As soon as I reached him he grabs me and pulls me against his chest, his movement s are so quick I crash into his hard body with a smack. He squeezes me and lets out a small sigh. "I was so fucking worried" he whispers to me and his voice sounds tight, he starts placing kisses on my hair.

"I'm sorry" I tell him but he shakes his head

"It wasn't your fault" he says

"Did..."

"Yeah Gypsy already showed us what happened she showed us everything as soon as she got close" he nods answering my question before I'd fully asked it.

Skar cupped my cheeks with both hands and pulled my lips against his. He kisses me roughly and desperately until we're interrupted by Jake clearing his throat behind us. We pulled apart and I could tell Skar was glaring at Jake, obviously annoyed we were disturbed. I squeezed Skar's arm lightly and gave it a rub reassuringly. "What's up Jake?" I ask

"We need to talk" Jake says and I nod.

"Jake listen..." I start but he slams his fist against the railing of the porch effectively cutting me off.

"No you listen Fable, I let you into this pack, into my family and we trusted you. You should have told us about the Seekers" he says

"I did... kind of" I say. I'd discussed them once with Skar and Newt and I'd had a very in depth talk about them with Seth and Gypsy at some point too but, Jake was right I'd never actually spoken to him directly about them.

"You should have told me they would come here" Jake growls

"Jake how could Fable have known that?" Skar says "Be reasonable"

"We could have lost her and Gypsy today! I don't think being pissed that I didn't have all the information is being unreasonable!" Jakes snaps right back.

"Stop it! both of you. Jake's right I should have told him about the seekers" I say

"Is there anything else you think I need to know about? Any other threats to my pack you haven't shared with the group?" Jake huffs and I roll my eyes

"No, Jake. Everything I've encountered now so have you. Well... Children of the moon are extinct so..." I tell him with a shrug.

"Right" Jake says with a nod. "Stick around I've called a pack meeting" Jake tells us and moves to go inside

"What about?" Skar asks

"There's a few pack announcements and some shift changes for this week that's all" Jake calls over his shoulder and disappears inside.

A few minuets later we're all gathered in a circle around Ness' kitchen table. Skar's sat on the counter top behind me with me resting between his legs, August and Gypsy are yet to let go of each other.

"And Teague will be taking the day patrol tomorrow with me" Jake tells the room "Also I think it might be wise to do some sparring in human forms. If the seekers do come back I want us all to be well prepared. Hopefully though Fable and Gypsy were successful in leading them off our trail"

"Hold on how come Seth's getting out of patrols?" Gypsy suddenly pipes up "Is he getting a free pass because he's beta? Because that doesn't seem fair?"

"We'll come to that in a second Gypsy" Jake says, giving her a look that says 'shut the hell up'

"If anyone's getting time off it should be me I just got my ass kicked" Gypsy says "And Fable just got shot!" every head in the room turns to look at me and I feel Skar's hands tighten on me

"Gypsy? I was not shot it was just a scratch" I laugh.

"Yeah from a bullet" she frowns at me like I'm crazy

"Ok everyone settle down" Ness says moving across the kitchen to take Jake's hand.

"Yeah I think I can answer your question Gyp" Seth says sounding a little nervous "I've decided to retire from the pack" Seth says and the room goes dead silent.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Dad are you serious?" Vayle asks and Seth smiles at his Son.

"Yeah, I am. I missed so much while you were growing up because I was always off with the pack. I neglected my wife for years because the pack was my main priority and not her. It's time for Carina to be my main focus" Seth says and nobody speaks for a moment. I squeeze Fable to me a little tighter and take a deep breath.

"But I just started phasing?" Vayle says and Seth sighs nodding his head.

"I know, and that makes me even more sure that my time is over and this is your time" Seth says

"Dad?" Vayle chokes on his words and his eyes fill with tears, he turns on his heel and all but dives out of the back door. He shifts into a chocolate brown wolf as soon as he's clear of the house.

"Vayle!" Seth calls out but he doesn't stop.

"Newt go after him, you too Micah" Jake says putting his hand on Seth's shoulder to stop him. Newt heads for the door but Micah pauses and looks at Fable for the go ahead. She nods her head once then he bounds out of the door after Newt. Micah always looks to Fable for confirmation if Jake asks him to do something, maybe he always will. I think he feels like part of the pack now, but he never forgets that he's a cat first and wolf second.

"Seth are you sure that's what you want?" Fable asks "Once you stop shifting for any real amount of time, you may not be able to start again"

"I've considered that, I know the risks. The original pack all went through the same choice one by one" Seth tells her. He was right he was the last one left to make this decision, with the exception of Jake. He'd phase forever to be with Ness just like I will to be with Fable.

I looked around at the now very quiet room Kaden looked sad and withdrawn, Gypsy was sobbing into August's shoulder and even Teague looked lost in thought. Seth sighed. "Come on guys, you're making it sound like I'm dying. I'm leaving to be with Carina I'll still be around for a long time yet" he says but it doesn't lighten the mood much. I guess we've been through this before and we knew how it turned out. Fifty years ago the last pack had been strong like us and slowly over the years they stepped down and retired. Starting with Teague's Father the pack Alpha Sam. Then Jared then Paul and so on. They weren't all gone but most had moved away now though, being near the pack made it too hard to quit phasing. Gypsy's parent's had moved to Florida because the sun helped Claire's ailments. But the sad truth for Kaden and Teague was their parents had long since passed on.

That was the hard part about living so long you had to watch the people you loved go before you, we'd seen it happen before and the second someone decided to leave the pack it was like you could see it happening all over again, it was just a matter of time.

"I'm happy for you Seth, I hope you and Carina will be happy" I tell him and he smiles

"Thank you Skar" he says

"Well that's gonna be tough to follow but hopefully this will cheer you guys up" Ness says and we all look up at her "I guess we'll tell the others later, but Jake and I have an announcement too" She says, she's practically beaming as she talks "We're Pregnant" she sings the last part and jaws fall open all round.

"What?" Seth says looking from Jake to Ness and back again. I guess even he didn't know about this.

"Since when?" Gypsy says wiping her eyes and walking over to Ness

"I'm not very far along yet we only found out a week ago but Carlisle is gonna try and do an ultrasound tomorrow" Ness says grinning.

"Congratulations you guys, it took you long enough" I say smirking at Jake, he narrows his eyes at me but I can see him trying not to smile.

The walk home was quiet, for some reason Fable said she didn't want to phase, she said she was too tired from today so I didn't question her, I offered to phase and let her ride home on my back but she said the walk would be nice. In fact it actually made a pleasant change she was right the walk was nice. Sometimes Fable and I could sit in absolute silence and be completely comfortable around the other; other times silence between us was the most awkward thing in the world. And what had started out comfortable had turned extremely awkward by the time we reached the house.

I was about to have it out with her when my cell phone rang on the coffee table, I bent to pick it up and saw it was Jake. Weird I thought, considering we'd just left there. I answered the call and held it to my ear. "Jake what's up?" I ask

"Hey Skar, listen I wanted to run something by you, I didn't want to do it in front of Teague then things got so hectic with the pregnancy news..." he says

"Ok?"

"How do you fell about stepping up to Beta?" he asks and my eyebrows rise

"Me? Are you sure?" I ask and he laughs

"Yep"

"What about Teague? I mean his Father was Sam Uley surely"

"Skar I'm asking you, Teague's in no fit state to be Beta right now ,you know that as well as I do. Besides it's my choice and I've chosen you. Question is weather you wanna do it" he tells me and I nod

"I don't really know what to say" I admit

"Well then think it over and get back to me?" Jake suggests

"Yeah, ok will do" I say and with that he hangs up.

I was shocked to say the least, I'd have thought Teague was the obvious choice. Beta was something I'd never even considered.

When I got up stairs I found Fable in one of my T-Shirts also on the phone sat on the bed. "I know he's being difficult right now Whit, but loosing Jaide was really hard on him" Fable says. It was instantly apparent she was talking to Whitley about Teague.

"I know I just... Fable I've never felt like this before" Whitley complains from the other end of the line.

"I know sweetie, trust me give him time and it'll get better. How's police school or whatever it's called? It's not really called police academy is it?" Fable asks and I hear Whitley laughing.

"It's going really well. I should be at a local station soon if I pass my exam" Whitley tells Fable and she sounds excited

"That's great, listen Whit it's late I have to go just don't give up on Teague ok? I'll call you later" Fable says and after saying their goodbyes they both hang up.

"Whitley doing ok?" I ask even though I just heard every word

"She's fine, but you already heard that" Fable says smirking at me.

I move across the room and strip down to my boxers ready for bed, I climb in next to Fable and she pulls the covers back to join me. "So are we gonna talk about this anytime soon?" I ask gesturing at the bed, Fable frowns at me

"You don't like our sleeping arrangements?" she asks and I shake my head

"No, I mean the nightmares Fable" I tell her and her face drops "I really think you need to see somebody"

"Skar I don't need a doctor to tell me I'm stressed I already know that, and that's all this is" she tells me

"Then you need to ask Jake for some time off of patrols" I say and she nods, finally something we agree on

"I already did, I took him to one side at the pack meeting, he was very understanding" she shrugs.

"Really?" I ask and she nods

"Yes really. Skar I know this has been hard on you. But you need to trust me when I say I can handle this. Because I can handle this. I love you" she tells me and sigh. I really wanted her to see someone, I really wanted her better, seeing her like this was killing me because there was nothing I could do.

"I love you more" I whisper and she smiles at me. Fable crawls across the bed to me and sits herself in my lap.

"Make love to me? Keep the dreams away?" she says in a small voice and slowly begins trailing kisses across my chest.

"I don't think I can stop your nightmares, I wish I could" I tell her

"I love you" she says again

"Talk to me?"

"Make love to me?" she asks pleading this time, she looks into my eyes and I see the hurt and the fear and it breaks me. I pull Fable to me and softly brush my lips over hers. I positioned myself over her, letting my hands skim up her sides lifting the T-shirt away from her body.

Fable strokes her hands over my stomach, her nails slightly grazing over the muscle making me shudder. I catch a breath then begin trailing my lips over her jaw and down her neck. Her entire body trembles the second my lips find her collar bone. She moans and her hand travels down between our bodies then she strokes me through my underwear, she applies the perfect amount of pressure and a half moan half breath tumbles from my mouth.

I kiss lower and lower then sling one of her legs over my shoulder, plastering one hand across her stomach to keep her still; she always writhes around and bucks off of the bed like crazy when I kiss her here.

Her head falls back in a gasp and she grabs chunks of my hair. I suck at the skin at the very top of her inner thigh, until there is a red and angry circle looking back at me, I give it a lick then a quick kiss before moving back to her centre. I run the flat of my tongue along her then dip a finger inside her, my name falls from her lips and she grabs handfuls of the bed sheets.

I kiss and lick my way back up her body stopping at her ear lobe where I gently tug at it with my teeth. Fable whimpers in frustration and want and I decide not to torment her any longer. I thrust myself inside her as deep as I can go, we move together, our lips brushing and skimming against each other with every movement, our breath hot on each others face, sweat glistening on our skin.

When we collapse together hours later we're both exhausted, I brush Fable's damp hair back from her face and cradle her against my chest, she falls asleep right there on top of me. Just maybe being wrapped together like this will have a shot at keeping the bad dreams away.

My eyes snap open, I'm alarmed when I can't her Fable screaming, I'm even more alarmed when I feel something hot and syrupy on my hand. I don't need to see it I can already smell it, it's blood. I quickly flick the bed side lamp on and see a huge gash from my belly button to the top of my thigh, bleeding profusely. I breathe a sigh of relief when I realise the blood's mine. I scan the room my eyes quickly falling on Fable's cat backed into the corner with her fur on end and covered in my blood.

I kick the sheets away and sigh, it was gonna be another long night.


	5. Chapter 5

___chapter 5_

_I backed away sliding across the polished wood on my back side unable to walk, clutching whatever precious treasure I held to my chest. _

_I hear his growl fill the house_

_I hear his paws pad almost silently on the stairs_

_A warm feeling stirs in my broken heart and I know who it is_

_My wolf_

_The door crashed open and I screamed_

I scrambled to my knees echoing the scream from my nightmare. Somehow I was out of the bed and on the floor; maybe I tossed and turned so much I fell out. What did it mean when you dreamt that someone you loved would hurt you? Worse than hurt you.

I looked at the crisp, brand new bed linens and remembered last night and the awful thing I had done to my spirit. So much blood. The worse part was that Skar wasn't even mad at me, I wanted him to be mad at me but no, he'd just held me and told me he was fine. Of course the wound healed by the time I'd even been able to shift back but that wasn't the point. Skar might be a shape shifter, he might heal quickly and be mostly unbreakable, but I was a shifter too and I could break him. When I'd woken in the night and burst into my cat I could have accidentally caught him with a stray claw somewhere else, a major artery, his throat. I couldn't even think it.

A noise downstairs suddenly distracted me, I thought I was alone. Micah was at school, Skar was at the garage. When I came up here for a nap nobody was home. Panic and paranoia take over and my body itches with the want to shift and protect myself.

I moved to the stairs quickly and quietly, I listen but didn't hear anything else. I creep down the stairs placing my feet at the edges of the step where they're nailed down to make the least amount of noise possible, but still I hear nothing until I reach the bottom step and I hear a noise around the corner in the kitchen. I press my body against the wall, listening, there's definitely someone in my kitchen. I hear the fridge door softly close and decide now is the time to act. My hand flies out and finds a man's throat. I have him pinned against the fridge before I can even register its Micah.

"Fable what the hell!" he shouts his eyes wide and a milk mustache on his top lip. I pull my hand away and take a step back

"Mich I'm sorry I didn't know who you were" I whisper

"Who did you think it was it could only be me or Skar" he snapped rubbing his neck.

"Well you shouldn't be sneaking around!" I suddenly find myself yelling at him.

"I wasn't" he says recoiling from me

"What are you even doing here aren't you supposed to be at school!"

"So I skipped my last class, it's no big deal"

"No big deal!" I snap not really sure why, usually I let Micah skip as many classes as he wanted as long as his grades stayed up and he kept out of trouble I was happy. "If you wanna live in my house you go to school!"

"Fable it was one class!" he yells back

"I don't care!" I shout, I'm not sure why I'm being such a bitch, Micah and I never argue and I certainly never shout at him like he's a little kid, I have more respect for him than that. "Mich I'm sorry" I say shaking my head then run out of the door.

I shifted and ran through the forest all the way to the beach, every step hurt like hell. My body throbbed and ached and I just couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't stay in my cat form for another second because it was just too painful. I took a winded breath and collapsed onto my hands and knees. I just knelt there alone and naked on the cliff tops for a moment. I didn't know what to do with myself.

The wind batters against me whipping my long black locks into my face and making goose bumps rise on my skin. I shiver and tuck my knees into my chest to try and trap in a little heat. I shouldn't have spoken to Micah like that; I'm not even sure why I lost it. I guess it was just the stress of no sleep.

A while later I hear someone approaching and I sink backward into the foliage worried I'm about to be caught in the nude by a complete stranger. Then a warm, masculine scent of woods and spices hits my nose and I know it's no stranger. It's Skar. Skar steps out of the trees into the setting sun, he smiles at me when he sees me but his face is still set in a frown. He reaches for the back of his t-shirt and pulls it over his head handing it to me. I take it with a grateful but shivering hand and when I get it on it drowns me. He doesn't say anything just sits on the ground next to me quietly.

"Skar?" I whisper

"Micah's really upset Fable, he said you went for him then lost it. You phased in your sleep last night and all but ripped my abdomen open, you scream the house down every night, you're scaring the shit out of me. What the hell is going on with you?" he asks me finally turning to look at me. I swallowed the tears back hard and tried to calm myself.

"The nightmares, they come every night without fail no matter what I do. I don't know what to do" I try to explain

"Then let's go see Carlisle" he says

"I can't explain it Skar but every fibre of my being is telling me to stay away from vampires, all vampires including the Cullen's"

"Will you atleast tell me what the nightmares are about?" he asks with an exasperated sigh.

"They start differently, sometimes the beginning is even pleasant but they always turn out the same. I'm being chased, I can't shift and I can't run fast enough to get away, I'm alone and I'm terrified"

"What's chasing you?" he asks

"A..." I pause almost having said 'wolf' but decided that might not be the best thing to tell him "A Vampire" I improvise and he nods

"It catches me and we fight, I don't fight back because... because I'm too weak" I say, in reality when I didn't fight back in the dream it was because I couldn't bring myself to harm the wolf hurting me, so I just lie there and take it. "I'm wounded, badly but I get away and make it to the house" I tell him

"Then what? Does the vampire catch you again?" Skar asks and I shake my head

"It's already there waiting for me. That's it, it kills me and I wake up. That's what the nightmares are about, that something is going to kill me"

"Fable I would never let anything happen to you" Skar tells me and I smile, he lifts his arm and I snuggle under it.

"I know" I whisper. But how was that supposed to reassure me when the one swearing to protect me was the one I kept dreaming about. How could I tell the man I loved that I kept having nightmares that he was the one murdering me, it was fucked up.

I knew Skar would never hurt me but I was such a vivid dreamer that sometimes I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't and that was what was so frightening about it.

I stood up suddenly and pulled Skar by the hand, he looks at me confused for second. "Do you want to go home?" he asks.

"No" I shake my head

"Fable?"

"Come with me?" I whisper and help pull him up from his feet.

Skar watches me for a second then let's me lead him into the trees. I stop once the trees are thick around us and it feels like we're far enough from civilisation. I turn and pull Skar against me. I press my lips into his; he moans slightly and pulls away resting his forehead against mine. "Fable, I'm supposed to be mad at you" he says

"I'm sorry, can't you forgive me?" I ask and he chuckles quietly

"I already have, I just want you to be ok" he says with a sigh. He reaches and puts his hands on my neck keeping me still and staring me down. He looks at me and I know he loves me. "Fable you're upset, I know what you want and it's probably not the best idea. I don't want you to associate sex with times you were sad" he tells me and I sigh.

"But I don't, I associate it with you making me feel safe and happy"

"Fable?" he sighs

"Are you saying you don't want me?" I ask, he steps even closer to me and yanks by my hips roughly against him. I can feel him hard and pressed against my stomach. A small moan leaves my mouth before I'm really able to gain control of myself.

"What do you think?" he smirks.

"I need you" I whisper moving so my lips touch his again. "Don't make me beg?" and then I feel his will break, he picks me up by the back of my thighs and in the next second I feel my back hit the floor.

He kisses down my chin and neck as his body covers mine, raking his fingers up my bare thigh and digging them in to my hip almost painfully, then he lift the T-shirt he gave me up to my armpits. I pull at his hair like he likes and pull on his bottom lip with my teeth. "I need you too" he tells me breathlessly. He trails his kisses lower over my collar bone where he stops to suck on the skin there for a moment, then continues down between my exposed breasts. He cups them with his hands and pushes them together. Skar grins at me then gives each nipple a quick lick. It leaves me frustrated and he knows it.

We become a frantic mess of fingers and teeth as we both race for his zipper. He pulls his t-shirt off of me and tosses it somewhere, I don't care where. "I love you" I pant and he growls against the hollow of my throat.

"I never get tired of hearing you say that" he breathes "Those three words are my favourite sound in the whole world"

He rolls onto his back and pushes me down onto his length so slowly it's like torture, not enough of him but so so sweet. I start to roll my hips against his annoyingly still ones and Skar's eyes drift closed, our fingers interlock as he finally begins to thrust himself off the ground and into me and I chant my love for him over and over, because I never want him to doubt or forget it. Never.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My elbow slipped off the desk effectively waking me up for the third time that morning, I looked around the office thankful nobody had seen me nodding off again. I yawned and stretched the swivel chair turning slightly of its own accord as I do, as much as I hated to be away from Fable I was gonna have to crash at Jake's or someone's tonight, I was desperate for a decent nights sleep.

I looked up through the blinds into the garage, business was slow today and Jake had popped out to grab us both lunch. My thoughts wondered to Teague, I wonder how he was doing out in that trailer all alone with nothing but his grief for company. We hadn't really spoken since we argued that day about Whitley and I was starting to feel like I owed him an apology. Just because I thought he was handling her the wrong way didn't mean I had any right to be sticking my nose in. After all Teague had made it quite clear my opinion was unwanted.

The bell chimed in the reception area of the office signifying someone had just walked in. My body protested but I forced myself upright and went to greet the customer. There was a little blonde thing in front of me, tiny like a twig, not enough clothes and too many eyelashes, they looked spidery and made my eyes want to water just looking at them. It was a shame because underneath it all was clearly a very pretty girl. "Hi can I help you?" I ask, she turns to me all smiles then her eyes widen for a second as she looks me up and down.

"Erm yeah hi, my car is making this god awful noise I don't even know how it made it here. I know I don't have an appointment but..." she says

"That's ok, bring it round and I'll have a look" I tell her, she beams at me

"Oh thank you so much" she gushes then skips out of the shop wobbling on her heals.

She drove the car around like I asked her to and I popped the hood, after digging and feeling around for a few minuets I realised there was something wrong with both the alternator and the engine, she was right I don't know how she got this car here either. I slammed the lid back down and wiped my oily hands on a rag. I looked up at a hopeful looking blonde; she was probably hoping I'd say I could fix it today, no such luck. "Well what's the verdict doc?" she asks and I laugh.

"You need a new drive belt, the bearings a worn on your alternator and your water pump is shot" I tell her. Shot was being polite that thing was fucked. Her face falls

"Can you fix it? Please say you can fix it" she grimaces waiting for the answer

"This is an old car, parts are hard to come by. Maybe a week at the earliest"

"A week!" she squeals

"Hey if there's somewhere else in town that can get you a drive belt for a 67 LeSabre feel free to take your custom there" I tell her

"No... this was my Grandpa's car I don't care how much it costs you have to help me please" she all but begs

"Like I said it'll take a week" I shrug

"Ok. My names Sydney by the way" she tells me and holds her hand out for me to shake.

"Skar" I tell her and shake her hand. "Lets fill in your paperwork" I say and she follows me back to the main desk.

Sydney is just leaving as Jake walks in. "Hey where the hell have you been?" I ask

"I went to check on Ness" he shrugs

"She ok?" I ask

"She is now" Jake smirks and wiggles his eyebrows at me; I laugh and roll my eyes.

"Who was that?" he asks and I shrug

"A customer, she just left the Buick"

"Wow old school"

"Very" I agree with a nod as I bite into the sub Jake just threw to me.

"I've been thinking" Jake says to me after a couple of minuets of eating in silence.

"That's never a good thing" I grin at him and he scoffs

"Ha fucking Ha, anyway as I was saying" he starts and I laugh "Maybe Seth's on the right wave length" I look up at him and frown

"Jake what are you talking about?" I ask watching him carefully for his reaction

"Just been thinking about how much time I spend with the pack, how it effects Ness" he shrugs

"You're not saying what I think you are, are you?"

"I'm not saying anything. But we're having a baby, I'm gonna miss a lot if I'm still Alpha"

"Jake? Nessie's immortal, you know what happens to a wolf when he stops phasing"

"Then I wouldn't stop" he says

"Then you'll still be Alpha"

"What so I have to be Alpha for the rest of my life just because I choose to keep phasing, that doesn't sound fair" he says and I sigh I guess not. "Fable's immortal, are you gonna stay in the pack running patrols for the rest of you existence?" he asks me and I pause. I've never given it much thought only that I wanted to be with her forever. I always assumed I'd have no choice, everyone knew the only way you quit the pack was if you stopped phasing. If you're wolf you're part of the pack, they're the rules. "Skar don't look so worried, I was just making an observation" Jake laughs.

I smile and nod but I don't know how much I believe him, he sounded pretty serious to me. Jake leaving the pack isn't something I ever want to think about but especially not now not after we just lost Seth. We all missed him like crazy already, ok so we still saw him all the time but it wasn't the same.

I was just about to lock up for the day; Jake was in the office finishing up some paperwork when I hear heels clipping into the garage. I turn and see Sydney the girl from earlier. "Oh good you're still open" she says when she sees me.

"Yeah what do you need?" I ask

"Oh I just left a bag I need in my car" she says

"Oh ok, I'll just get the keys" I tell her and make my way to the office to get them.

"Thank you!" she calls from behind me.

Jake smirks at me when I let myself in to the room, I frown at him. "What are you smirking at?" I ask him.

"Someone's hot for you" he says nodding at the window towards Sydney

"What? Don't be ridiculous" I tell him as I swipe up the keys, I jingle them at him "She said she left something in her car"

"Yeah sure she did"

"It doesn't matter, I'm with Fable"

"Hey I never said you weren't" he says holding his hands up in defence. I shake my head at my Alpha he was being an asshole, I had an imprint I didn't even notice other girls that way so why did he have to make me feel awkward and uncomfortable by pointing it out. But the second he did I could see it, Sydney was using all the oldest tricks in the book to get my attention and now that it wasn't just going over my head it was damn annoying. Batting her fake eyelashes, twirling her hair around her finger, her hip struck out in that way girls do because they know it makes their ass look great, shit this chick was doing anything she could to get me to look her way. And it was just plain embarrassing.

I had her quickly on her way; she was looking over shoulder at me as she walked away, waving. I cringed and forced a smile. Then she tripped, she grabbed hold of a shelf to keep herself upright and the whole unit wobbled, filled dangerously with paint tins and toolboxes. I watched in slow motion as the big red tool box on the top fell and plummeted straight for her. I move quickly grabbing her by the arm and yanking her out of the way. The tool box crashes to the floor inches away from Sydney and I let out a sigh of relief that probably would have killed her had it hit her.

She cooed about me being her hero for a little while and thanked me over and over for saving her life, Jake was next to no help but I finally managed to get rid of her. I'd forgotten what it felt like to have a girl crushing on you like that, it was stifling.

When I got to my car I had a text message from Micah all it said was: _We need to talk, what the fuck is going on with Fable!_

I sighed and rubbed my eyes with my palms, I was too tired to deal with this tonight, and what the hell was I meant to tell Micah when I myself didn't even know. I decided not to even text him back, I figured this was something Fable wouldn't want him knowing, and if she did she'd tell him herself.

I put my Mustang into gear and started heading in the direction of my Uncles house. I'd introduced him to Fable just a few weeks ago and they'd really hit it off, I was glad he liked her. I'd taken him around to Fable's house for pot roast and it went really well. He was eager for us all to go around to his place so he could make his special chilli, I wasn't sure if I could willingly subject Fable and Micah to that yet, the only thing special about my uncle's chilli was the burn in your throat on it's way down, that and the way it felt like a nuclear reaction was taking place in your stomach the next day.

I was glad I made it to my uncle's in one piece, I think I fell asleep twice on the drive home, lucky I know that route like the back of my paw. The lights were still on so looked like he was still up, probably watching the game with one too many beers, I had to admit that sounded pretty good to me right about now. "Oskar!" My Uncle shouts as soon as he hears me push the door open.

"Yeah it's me!" I call and make my way into the living room, just as I suspected he's in his lazy boy reclined a beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other.

"You just getting off work?" he asks and I nod before letting myself sink into the sofa. "Not seeing Fable tonight?" he asks and I wince.

"Erm... just needed a night apart, we don't sleep much when we share a bed" I tell him and he laughs

"Like that is it?" he grins and wiggles his eyebrows, I laugh

"I don't mean like that, it's just Fable's been having trouble sleeping, restless and nightmares... and we're both exhausted from it. I just need a night in my old bed if that's ok" I ask

"Of course it's okay. But are you sure you don't need to be with your girl, sounds like she's having a rough time"

I know he's right, and I feel guilty for not being there for her but I was running on fumes here, I needed one night to recharge my batteries then I'd be there for her. Fable would understand that. Or atleast I hoped she would.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I said my goodbyes to Ness and thanked her for the drink then headed out, Jake would be home soon so I thought it best to let them be alone. Those two were still all over each other since we got back from Italy, it was no wonder she was pregnant.

I was content to walk home, it would take me a while but it was becoming way too painful to shift, I was gonna have to get Jake alone at some point soon and tell him I couldn't do patrols anymore. That was until I came across a familiar sent that got me curious.

It took me almost fifteen minuets to shift into my cat, I was screaming in agony and in tears by the time I forced myself to do it. The sent was stronger now I was in this body and I recognised it's owner almost immediately, it was Demitri, what the hell was he doing here?

I followed the trail for a little while until I realised it was leading me out of La Push, I figured he'd come through this way intentionally hoping I would be the one to find it. So I followed, I followed it all the way to the outskirts of a nearby town where I found myself outside a motel.

I collapsed relieved to be back in human form the headache subsided and the nausea started to ebb away. The gravel of the track bit into my knees and the heels of my hands but I didn't care this pain was nothing compared to the pain I experienced when shifted these days.

Once dressed I crossed the road to the motel and walked to the check in desk. A round, greasy, little man sits there in a dirty vest and not much else smoking a roll up and reading a dirty magazine, I don't catch the name. He glanced at me dragging his eyes up and down me in a way that made me want to squirm. "You need a room baby girl?" he asks in gruff voice so coarse I actually flinch.

"Actually I'm here to see someone. Is there a Mr. Voltori staying here?" I ask. He grunts and looks over the bookings.

"11b" he tells me then turns back to his magazine. I quickly dash out of the office away from that perverted man then make my way to Demitri's room. I don't know which is the lesser of two evils. Why did Demitri want me to meet him at a motel, why didn't he just come and see me if he wanted to talk? Why is he here at all? After the way things ended after our last meeting I assumed it would be a good few decades before I saw his face again, apparently I was mistaken.

I jog up the last few steps and make my way almost to the end of the row where I find a door marked 11b. I pause and take a second before I knock. It doesn't take long for the door to swing open and there he is staring back at me I smile a small smile to find his eyes still golden and not red. Even back with Felix and the others he hadn't reverted to his old habits, I was proud of him. "You're eyes are still gold, I'm proud of you Demitri. Well done" I tell him. He takes a breath and nods

"Thank you" he says the steps aside to let me in.

"So what's with the cryptic meeting, you did intend for me to find your scent near my house?" I say

"Yes"

"That was foolish it could have easily been one of the other wolves" I say

"You mean it could have easily been your boyfriend?" he snaps. I narrow my eyes at him and he sighs "I'm sorry I don't know why I said that"

"I do" I say and he looks at me

"Because you think I'm a jealous asshole?" he asks and I smirk

"I wasn't going to put it like that" I laugh and he finally smiles. Atleast now it feels like we've broken the ice. "So tell me what's going on?" I ask

"Is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to see my friend?" he says and I raise my brows at him

"Demitri?"

"It's true, I've missed you" he says, he gestures for me to sit and I do then we begin chatting about everything that's happened since we last spoke. He tells me about Italy and how things are going with Marcus ruling alone. He tells me about some of the new guard members that have joined now that Aro and Caius aren't around calling the shots. Demitri tells me that the Romanian coven having been proving difficult and have been going out of their way to get to Marcus. He says they won't be a problem anymore, I don't ask him why, it's pretty obvious.

When he asks me what's new with me I tell him all the news I can think of but the way he looks at me it's like he knows there something I'm not telling him. "I spoke to Carlisle; he told me they haven't seen you since the wedding. Fable why are you avoiding the Cullen's?"

"Since we got back from Canada I've not been myself. It started off with nightmares so terrible they'd wake me; they got worse and more frequent. Sometimes now I have them in the day when I think I'm awake" I tell him. He frowns at me his features etched with concern. "I'm paranoid, I'm short tempered, I can't shift without almost passing out from the pain. I'm scared" I finally admit and Demitri zips across the room to the space next to me. He hugs me to him, he feels cold and hard like marble, it's possibly the most uncomfortable hug I've ever received, but it's a hug all the same and I can't seem to stop the tears that come with it.

"What are the nightmares about?" he asks and I try to catch my breath so I can talk "If you're okay talking about it" he adds and I nod.

"I keep dreaming about Skar" I start

"What about him?" Demitri asks

"I dream that he chases me, he attacks me in his wolf form and I won't fight back because I love him too much. He breaks my body completely and then he kills me" I whisper.

"Fable? Look at me?" Demitri tells me and pushed me back by the shoulders so I'm looking him dead in the eye. "you have no idea how much it pains me to admit this but that man loves you, he completely adores you and he would never hurt you" Demitri tells me and I nod.

"I know that. But no matter how much I tell myself that if doesn't make the nightmares go away. Nothing has, I've tried everything"

"You could try speaking to Carlisle" he suggests and I sigh.

"No, no Vampires" I say and Demitri scoffs

"And what exactly do you think I am?"

"That's different you're my friend and I trust you" I say

"Since when don't you trust the Cullen's?" he asks with a frown

"I don't know. But there's something in the back of my head telling me I shouldn't"

We sat and talked for a while longer until I realised the time, it was five in the morning. I stood quickly. "Demitri I have to go, I had no idea it was late, well early actually" I say and he chuckles.

"That's alright I understand. Fable if you ever need anything you know where I am" Demitri says suddenly serious

"Thank you" I say and stretch up to hug him "Thank you for everything"

"You're most welcome. Call me, we have a telephone in Volterra you know? Kane one the new ones has been teaching me how to use it" he smiles and I laugh pulling away from him. "What? Telephones have changed a lot over the years"

"Next thing you'll be telling me we should text" I giggle and Demitri grins

"I'll have to get Kane to teach me first" he sighs and I laugh at him. "I'm returning to Volterra as soon as I'm sure sunlight won't be a problem. But I'm serious you know where to find me" he says and I nod.

I took a cab to Nessie and Jake's I needed to apologise to Ness for my rude behaviour yesterday and I had to speak with Jake about patrols. I had the driver stop and let me pick up coffee and muffins on the way. if you were gonna drop in on someone this early in the morning it was always wise to come baring gifts.

I let myself in after paying the hefty cab fair. "Ness you here?" I call.

"We're in the kitchen Hun!" she shouts back

"Oh I'm glad you're both here" I say plonking the food down on the table in front of Jake who instantly starts to root through the brown paper bag. "Just help yourself Jake" I laugh.

"Usually do" he says and reaches over to ruffle my hair, I shove his hand away.

"What's this?" Ness asks

"This is my apology for being a grumpy bitch yesterday, I'm sorry" I tell her

"Aw, it's ok" She tells me and pulls me into a hug.

"Jake I kind of need a favour" I say taking the seat next to him

"What kind of favour?" he asks with his mouth full of blueberry muffin.

"I need you to let me off of patrols for a while?" I say

"I just gave you the week off" he frowns.

"I know but I need longer" I say.

"What Why?"

"I'm just feeling under the weather and I'm not sleeping well, I'm too tired to be fully alert when I'm on patrol. I'm sure I'll be better in a little while after some decent sleep" I add quickly before he starts asking questions.

"Ok, let me know when you can come back" he says

After Jake finished his third muffin he announced he was going to work and left me and Ness to our girly chit chat. About ten minuets later the front door flew open, and then Skar stomped into the kitchen. When his eyes fell on mine he looked really pissed. Micah quickly scurried into the room behind him. Skar stared at me looking like he would shift at any minuet just glaring and staring me down. "Where the fuck were you?" Skar suddenly shouts and I jump at the sheer volume of his voice.

"Skar?"

"Micah said you didn't come home last night" he snaps cutting me off before I can say anything more. Micah said? Does that mean he didn't come home last night either?

"No, I didn't I crashed here last night" I shrug trying to sound casual

"You did?" Skar asks as he begins to calm down. I glance at Ness and she's just staring at me

"Yeah, what else would I be doing here this early in yesterday's clothes?" I laugh and Ness laughs nervously with me. He seems to buy it but has to leave because he promised to give Micah a ride to school.

The second we hear his car start Ness pinches my arm. "Ow what the fuck did you do that for?" I scowl at her

"Why did you just lie to Skar?" she counters and I sigh.

"Because he would have been pissed if he knew where I really was, I went to see Demitri" I tell her and her eyes widen

"He's in town?"

"Not for much longer. But I knew Skar would jump to all the wrong conclusions and we'd have a massive fight..."

"Fable? You didn't lie to Skar because there was something hide did you?" Ness asks "I mean nothing happened right?"

"Ness!" I shout and she nods her head quickly

"No, of course I'm sorry that was a stupid question" she says quickly. I sigh, I know I shouldn't have lied, but it just felt like the easier option.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When I pulled up in the driveway Micah was waiting for me and he looked pissed. I climbed out of my car and he strides over to me. "Why haven't you been answering your phone!" he snaps.

"I must have left in the car last night, why what's up?" I ask and he stares at me in disbelief. I reach into the car and dig my phone out of the glove compartment. After Micah text me yesterday I'd received ten missed calls from him. I look back at him and he glaring at me expectantly. "I left in the car" I say in defence

"Fable didn't come home last night" he tells me and suddenly all my confusion and annoyance vanishes like I'd never felt it, all I'm concerned with now is finding her.

"What do you mean she didn't come home last night!" I say starting to get angry and advancing on Micah until he has to back up a step.

"I mean she's not here, I waited up for her and she just never showed" he says

"Are you sure?" I ask

"Of course I'm sure, her bed's still made" he tells me. It's not that I don't believe Micah but I find myself shoving him out of the way and barrelling full steam ahead into the house anyway. I kick the back door open so hard the glass wobbles. Micah's right her scent's here but it's faint she definitely hasn't been here since yesterday.

"Skar she's not here" Micah says jogging to keep up with me

"Where would she go?"

"I don't know maybe the Cullen's" he suggests

"You didn't phone around!" I snap

"I didn't want to cause a panic, I figured she was probably out with you" he shrugs his shoulders and I feel bad for yelling at him. I try to remind myself that none of this is Micah's fault. I remember what Fable said about Vampires the other day; she won't have gone to the Cullen's for that very reason.

"She's not at the Cullen's" I tell Micah just as he reaches for the kitchen phone

"Ok what About Jake and Ness?" he asks and I nod, maybe.

"Get your stuff we'll stop by on your way to school" I say

"Skar are you crazy I'm not going to school till we know where Fable is" he protests

"She's probably fine, I'm not letting you miss school because Fable couldn't be bothered to leave a note, if you do it'll be my ass" I tell him. He grumbles then starts getting his shit together.

When we pulled up at Ness and Jake's I felt her the second I stepped out of the car. She was here that meant she was safe. I was pissed she hadn't told anyone where she was but I was eager to see she was alright too. I pushed the front door open and stomped towards the sound of her breathing.

"Where the fuck were you?" I shout glaring at Fable until she almost squirming under my gaze, I take a breath and try and ease up a bit.

"Skar..." she starts but I'm too angry to even let her finish.

"Micah said you didn't come home last night" I snap, her eyes narrow at me for a split second and I know it's because she's saying something sarcastic in her head.

"No, I didn't I crashed here last night" Fable tells me as if it's no big deal. It's as if she doesn't even give a shit that people were worried about her.

"You did?" I ask, I force my anger away and try my best to calm down. In all honesty the reason I'm most upset is because I thought she was really gone. I thought she'd finally had enough of me and left. When her scent was too faint to track at the house I was terrified.

"Yeah, what else would I be doing here this early in yesterday's clothes?" Fable points out and I sigh. She's right I didn't tell her I wouldn't be coming home either; I guess communication is something we both need to work on.

"Okay" I sigh "I should go I said I'd get Micah to school" I tell her and she nods

"Alright" she says and offers me a tight smile when I move to kiss her; I pull back and decide it best not to touch her. This clearly isn't the end of this conversation. Once back in the car I turn the radio up and start heading in the direction of La Push high.

"You okay?" Micah asks after a mile or so.

"I'm fine, I'm glad we found her" I say

"Yeah" he nods quietly.

"I told you she'd be fine, nothing to worry about" I say not noticing my grip tightening on the steering wheel until my knuckles are white.

"Ok are you two gonna stop treating me like a little kid and tell me what's going on or what?" Micah suddenly blurts out, I still for a second then glance at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about" I tell him

"Oh that's horseshit; don't play dumb with me Skar. I feel like Mommy and Daddy are getting a divorce and no one wants to tell me. What the hell is going on?" he asks and I sigh. This is exactly what I was afraid of, Micah catching on to all the weirdness between me and Fable and calling me out on it. I chewed on my lip while I debated what I should and shouldn't tell him.

"Look Micah I..." I start and he sighs

"No, no dicking around the issue just tell me. After everything I've been through this year I think I can handle whatever this is" he says. He's right this kids been through more than any other sixteen year old should have to. he'd lost his father, found out he was a shape shifter, been shipped off by his suicidal mother to live with an aunt he couldn't even remember, lost all contact with his mother and assumed her dead, been thrown into a battle with dangerous vampires, had close friends die all around him, and met the girl of his dreams only to have her date some other guy who happened to be a complete tool.

"Fable's going through a rough time at the moment and it's taking its toll on both of us" I tell him hoping that would be enough to satisfy him.

"What do you mean a rough time?" he asks as we pull up in the school parking lot. Vayle and Newt are already waiting for him.

"I mean if you want more than that you're gonna have to ask Fable" I tell him and he huffs, he climbs out of the car slamming the door and not even saying goodbye. I roll my eyes and put the car into a gear as I pull out of the lot.

I considered going back to Nessie and Jake's to try and have it out with Fable but I didn't want to face her yet. Instead I decided to give Teague another shot, maybe today would be the day that I finally got him out of his funk.

Teague's door opens before I can knock on it and standing before me is a busty red head in a strapless white top and some silver hot pants. She had lipstick smeared down her chin and she had a pair of strappy high heels in one hand the kind with the see through plastic platform that were super sluty. She winked at me then continued on her way, Teague came to the door after her butt naked rubbing sleep out of his eyes, scratches on his chest from her finger nails fading more by the second. "Did you bring a stripper home last night?" I ask

"I might have, what's it to you?" he scowls at me and I roll my eyes.

"Alright whatever man, why don't you get dressed we'll go down to the clinic and make sure she didn't give you anything" I say, he snorts a laugh

"Don't be such a jerk man" he smirks

"How about breakfast instead?" I say and he nods

"Let me find some clothes" he says and heads back into his trailer.

We drove to a diner in Forks that did the best pancakes for miles, Tea really loves pancakes, and the waffles are pretty good here too. We order and sit in silence just eating. Teague never wants to talk about anything anymore and I was still feeling weird about this morning with Fable. Teague excused himself to the bathroom and when he came back I looked at him and smirked. "So what's the verdict, does it burn when you pee" I ask and for the first time in weeks Teague actually laughs.

"Shut the fuck up man" he says and digs into his second stack. "So how's things with you?" he asks and I choke on a mouthful of waffle and syrup. He looks at me with one eyebrow cocked.

"Erm... things are okay" I shrug

"Okay?" he repeats

"Well yeah, Fable and I are having some problems but... oh shit I'm sorry are you okay talking about her?" I ask and he nods

"Yeah, Fable ceased to mean anything like that to me the second Whitley went and fucked everything..." Teague suddenly stops talking and stares off into the distance behind me

"Tea you alright" I ask and his eyes snap to mine wide and angry

"You son of a bitch you planned this" he hisses at me and I frown what the hell was he taking about. Just then the door opens, I turn to look at what Teague's looking at and see Whitley has just walked in wearing her police uniform.

"Teague I swear I had no idea, do you wanna leave?" I ask him, I didn't want to leave; I wanted him to grow a pair and talk to Whitley.

"Oh shit" he mutters and looks down at his plate.

"Hey guys" Whitley says in her usual upbeat cheer.

"Hey Whit how you doing?" I ask her and she smiles.

"I'm good, I'm training at Forks police station now, I passed my exams didn't Fable tell you?" she asks

"Oh, it must have slipped her mind" I say

"How are you Teague?" she asks, I watch the way she looks at him like her hearts breaking just being in his presence, it's painful to look at. I feel for her, I remember a time I thought Fable didn't want me, it was soul destroying. Teague doesn't answer her just keeps his eyes intently locked with his breakfast.

"He's fine, ignore him. He's being rude" I smile at Whitley and kick Teague as hard as I can under the table. He flinches and glares at me.

"Ok, well I have to get back. You know Teague if there's anything I can do..." Whitely was saying when Teague abruptly stood up knocking his drink over and startling Whitley

"No offence but unless you're offering to open your legs for me there's really nothing I want from you. So why don't you drop your nice and helpful act and stay out of my life" he spits then storms out of the diner. I honestly don't know what to say all I can do is watch as Whitley bites her lip and tries not to cry.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The second I pushed the door open something didn't feel right and then I heard the gentle sound of sobbing coming from my kitchen. "Micah?" I called into the house, the crying instantly stopped with a gasp that was way too feminine to be my nephew's. Was Gypsy here? Or maybe Whitley? She was doing training in Forks at the moment.

I timidly creep into the kitchen and there's a girl I've never seen before sat on my kitchen floor with mascara all down her cheeks. She looks up at me with these puppy dog eyes and I don't know what the hell to do. "HI?" I say carefully but that just brings on another wave of tears.

She looks maybe fourteen at the most, long chocolate brown hair in a braid over one shoulder, huge brown eyes like a baby reindeer, tiny little button nose, beautiful caramel coloured skin and more earrings than I thought an ear could manage. But I still have no idea who she is. "I'm... I'm" she tries to say something to me but she starts choking on her tears, I quickly fill a glass off of the side with water and hand it to her.

The girl gives me a watery smile then gulps down half the glass, she's panting when she hands it back to me.

"I'm so sorry to just show up here but I didn't know where else I was supposed to go" she sobs. What the hell do you say to that? So I say the only thing I can think of.

"That's alright, are you okay?" I ask

"Not really no!" she wails and beings crying again. "It's just Cal's being so difficult at the moment" she sobs. Okay who the hell is Cal?

"He is?" I ask

"He just doesn't get it and he thinks that just because I won't sleep with him he can go behind my back with some other girl" she cries

"Wow, what an ass" I mutter

"Exactly!" she wails and buries her face in her hands.

"Look maybe this Cal isn't worth the effort and you should just dump his ass" I tell her sitting down on the kitchen floor next to her, she sniffles slightly then looks at me like I've quite possibly lost my mind. I'm not the one crying on a strangers kitchen floor.

"But our parents are best friends and we've practically been dating since kindergarten" she says

"So?"

"So? So I can't just break up with him, our mothers have been planning our wedding for years, our dads are already arguing over which of them we're gonna name our first born son after"

"Do you want any of those things?" I ask her

"No, but it's what my parents want" she says

"To hell with them it's your life, and if they love you which they obviously do because well... they're your parents then they'll get over it" I tell her

"Oh my God you're so nice" she says and the tears are back.

"So erm... who are you?" I ask

"Oh I'm Roshni, I'm a friend of Micah's" she tells me and I nod. She's way more than a friend of Micah's she's the Roshni, Micah's kindred sprit.

"Where is Mich?" I ask and she shrugs

"There was nobody here when I got here but the door was unlocked. You must be Micah's sister Fable?" she says and for a second I blank

"Sister?" I say confused. Then I remember at school Micah told everyone we were brother and sister to save on questions about our age difference. It just wasn't realistic for a sixteen year old to have a nineteen year old looking aunt, not in human terms anyway. "Oh right yeah that's me" I say quickly and smile at her. Roshni narrows her eyes at me for a second at my weirdness.

"Thanks for letting me vent by the way" she says and I smile

"No problem. Did you walk here?" I ask her, I didn't see any strange cars out front.

"No I came on my pushbike, I left it by the garage" she tells me.

"Do you like pop tarts?" I say and stand up.

Roshni and I sat at my kitchen table eating pop tarts while she told me about herself, she was turning fifteen in a few weeks that was good news for Micah, she liked swimming and she was really good at math. She spoke to me a lot about her boyfriend Cal and he really did sound like a total douche bag.

"Oh my God I had the shittiest day" Micah moans and a second later the door slams "Your boyfriend is a dick, I have homework coming out of my ass and I think I ate some bad bacon earlier. Why does everything have to suck, and I'm to just sit around and watch while that bastard walks all over..." Micah stops mid rant as he turns the corner into the kitchen and sees who I'm sat with. "Bambi?" he whispers, I smirk at the nickname and Roshni blushes bright red.

"Hey Micah" she says quietly and for a moment they just stare at each other.

"What are you doing here?" he asks

"I... I... well I just came to" Roshni falls over her words

"I invited her?" I say and Roshni shoots me a grateful smile. "I thought Roshni might want to stay for dinner I'm making Taco's" I announce "Do you like Taco's Roshni?" I ask her and she smiles at me.

"I love Taco's" she says then looks at Micah "is it ok if I stay?" she asks him

"Yeah of course" he agrees quickly

"Why don't you two make yourselves scarce? You know I like the kitchen to myself when I'm cooking" I say, Micah frowns at me, probably because I've never expressed the desire to cook alone before but he doesn't argue, he just carries Roshni's book bag for her into the living room.

I spy on them for a little second and watch as they talk for a moment then Micah hugs Roshni and she cries. They look so cute.

"What's going on" Skar suddenly says from behind me, I jump and turn around he smirks knowing he scared me and I swat him in the chest.

"Skar you scared me" I tell him

"Are you spying on Micah?" he whispers and I must have guilty look on my face because he grins at me.

"Maybe" I admit

"Is that Micah's imprint?" he asks leaning around the fridge like I just was to get a better look.

"Yep, she's cute huh?" I say, Skar shrugs.

"Sure, I guess" he says.

"Skar about this morning I'm sorry I didn't mean to worry you or Micah and I should have called and told you both I was staying out late" I say, he looks at me and shakes his head.

"I crashed at my Uncle's last night and I didn't even think to call so don't worry about it" he tells me

"I'm still sorry I made you worry" I sigh

"I said don't worry" he says and and starts to nuzzle his nose against mine. "I missed you last night" he whispers against my lips then starts to kiss me and push me against the fridge.

"I love you"

"I love you" he breaks just long enough to tell me that then his lips are back on mine.

Micah was miserable when he got back from dropping Roshni and her push bike home, I tried to talk it out with him but he didn't feel like it and just ventured off to his room over the garage. He was blaring out death metal not long after. Skar was out on patrol and I was alone. I hated being alone.

Now seemed like as good of a time as any to start working my way through those unpacked crates, so that's what I did. I made my way out to the garage where Skar had moved the boxes for me, taking a mug of hot chocolate with me.

I use a crowbar to rip the lid off the top and move the packaging around to see what's inside. The first thing I spot is a big wad of bubble wrap; I take it out and pick at the tape holding it together. Once it was unwrapped I see a vase I didn't even recognise but it must have meant something to me to have it put into storage like that. I pulled out some old photographs, a couple of painted canvas's that aren't familiar either and a mint condition tiffany lamp. It's hideous I can't imagine why I thought it worth saving; I guess I was young back then and it seemed important to save the materialistic things at the time. I find a drumstick from a Van Halen concert next and at the bottom of the crate was a small metal brief case, I try and open it but it's locked and I have no idea what the combination is.

I spend the next hour trying everything combination of numbers that makes sense, birthdays, significant dates but nothing worked. I tried to break it open but it wouldn't budge.

I sigh feeling slightly pissed off. It's like the me from the past did this on purpose just to torment the future me. I ponder over it for another few minuets then take the crowbar to it. Within an hour it was scuffed and dinted but no closer to being open.

I was about to give up and go inside when Micah came into the garage.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" he asks, I stare at him blankly, the racket that was coming from his room and he wanted to know why I was making so much noise.

"Just going through these boxes" I shrug

"Oh, cool. What's with the ugly lamp?" he asks turning his nose up at it. I laugh.

"I don't know. You know I hardly recognise any of this stuff" I tell him and he frowns

"Are you sure it's yours maybe the warehouse sent you the wrong crate" Micah says

"I was starting to think that too until I found this" I say and pass him the drumstick. "Your Dad and I saw Van Halen play in Las Vegas one time, Gabe caught that when Alex Van Halen threw his sticks into the crowd after this epic encore. It was a really great night" I smile fondly.

"That's really awesome" Micah says admiring the drumstick.

"You can have it if you want" I say and his eyes light up

"Really?"

"Yeah sure" I nod

"Thanks Fable" he says and I smile at him. He probably doesn't have much that belonged to his parents, he only brought a small duffle bag with him from Siberia. "What's in the case?" he asks and I shrug my shoulders

"Don't know I can't get it open" I tell him

"You can't remember the combination?" he asks and I shake my head.

"I don't even remember owning this" I say looking at the briefcase in question.

"Have you tried 0000?" he asks and I look at him

"As if" I say then start turning all the little dials to say zero, the case springs open and my jaw does the same. Inside are rows and rows of polka chips, with the casino name 'mint' printed on them. Micah looks over my shoulder and chuckles. "I think this was your Dad's crate" I laugh

"Do you think we could cash those chips in?" he asks

"Not likely, I'm pretty sure the mint closed down in 88" I tell him and he sighs.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I was still feeling bad about what happened yesterday with Teague and Whitley so I decided to go and see Whitley today and apologise. Fable told me she would be at the station today so I was hoping I would catch her. I wasn't really sure what I would say but I felt responsible for what Teague was going through, I knew deep down if I'd been that little bit stronger or that little bit faster Aro wouldn't have gotten the better of me and Jaide would never of had to step in. Maybe it's foolish to think helping Teague with his imprint could ever make up for what happened, but I feel like I have to at least try.

I hope Whitley won't be too upset or pissed off about what happened with Teague at the diner. He had been really fucking awful to her. It wasn't Whitley's fault, according to Fable she's been having a really hard time lately, it couldn't be fun falling in love with someone who wouldn't give you the time of day and acted like they hated your guts. Poor girl didn't even understand what she was feeling and she had to go through it alone. Sure Whitely and Fable were still great friends but with all Fable's been dealing with lately she's not been there for Whitley a hundred percent.

I pull up outside the station and head inside, at the main desk I ask for Whitley Vanderson and the rookie cop running the desk calls upstairs to find her. After a few minuets, the cop comes around the desk and escorts me to where Whitley is. She looks up and smiles at me. "Hey what are you doing here?" she asks

"I just wanted to swing by and apologise about yesterday" I say and and she sighs

"Teague's a complete asshole I don't know why I waste my time on him, he clearly hates me" she huffs and collapses into an office chair.

"Look I know he's being difficult but..."

"Difficult! Difficult I could handle, this is..." she sighs heavily again "I don't even know what this is"

"Just hang in there, Teague needs a friend right now" I tell her

"A friend? He's got you" she says

"Yeah but I'm not a chick, and I think he likes you" I say, Whitely looks at me for a minuet then laughs

"My God Skar, I appreciate you coming down here but you suck at this" she tells me and I laugh

"Yeah maybe I should leave the words of wisdom to Fable" I say.

"Yeah maybe"

Whitley starts telling me about her training and I try to listen but the conversation two officers next to us are having keeps distracting me.

"I just came from the coroners office, he said the body was drained of blood" One officer says to the other. Drained of blood? What the hell? the other officer sighs

"That's the second one this week, what the hell is this sick fucker doing?" he mutters

"The doc says the punctures looked like bite wounds, what the fuck do we do with that?" the younger officer asks

"I don't know" the other officer sighs; they chat a little while longer then walk off. I turn to Whitley hoping I can get a little information out of her, these murders sound suspiciously like vampire attacks, but if there were vampires in forks the pack would know about it right.

"What was that about?" I ask Whitley cutting her off from whatever she was saying.

"Huh?" she frowns at me.

"Those cops they were just talking about bodies drained of blood, that sounds messed up" I shrug my shoulders trying to look casual.

"Skar!" Whitley hisses at me with wide eyes "You weren't supposed to be listening to that"

"Come on? It sounded serious, is there a murderer on the loose or something?" I ask. Whitley scans the cubicles and checks the desks next to hers, there's nobody else about.

"At first we thought they were animal attacks but the wounds are too clean to be made by teeth, animal bites are jagged and messy"

"But these weren't?" I prompt her to continue

"No, but the weird part is it looks like a bite I've seen pictures, but it's impossible our teeth just can't penetrate the skin like that" Whitley shrugs. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this ok so just forget I said anything" she tells me and shoots me a serious look.

"Sure, consider it forgotten" I tell her and she seems to relax.

"Thank you" Whitley says. She had to get back to work after that so I made my excuses and left. I was eager to talk to Jake, how the hell had we missed a vampire in Forks? There was something going on and we needed to find out what before any more people died.

I made the drive to Jake's house in double quick time and told him he needed to call a meeting now. He frowned at me for a second before making his way out onto the back porch to phase. After he'd put the call in he came back into the kitchen and told me to take a seat, I did. "Skar what's going on?" Jake asks looking a little concerned. I told him about the conversation I'd over heard at the police station and Whitley's take on it. Jake agreed with me, it definitely sounded like vampires.

The rest of the pack had arrived within the hour and we all congregated on the back lawn. I showed the others what had happened at the station and felt Teague instantly stiffen when he saw Whitley.

_Kaden: Vampires in Forks? How did we miss that?_

_Jake: its a good question_

_Me: yeah one we don't have an answer to_

_Vayle: are you sure its vampires?_

_Newt: you mean it could be something else? That's a scary thought_

_Vayle: no I mean as much we'd like to think the people we protect are worth protecting some of them aren't._

_Gypsy: No way you heard Whitley she said it looked like bite marks right Skar?_

_Me: that's what she said._

_Vayle: I was just saying_

_Jake: Vayle has a point, we shouldn't be ruling anything out at this point_

_Me: yeah but we should also be looking into this_

_Jake: of course we will, we'll double patrols..._

That receives groans all around.

_Jake: and I want you to pay extra attention to Forks, that's where the attacks took place._

_Teague: was there anything else or can I go now?_

Jake growls and Teague shuts up

_Jake: that's everything. Teague don't even think about going anywhere we need to talk. _

And with alphas orders we all phase out onto human feet and begin dressing in unison. "Is staying for this little pep talk an order?" Teague sneers at Jake

"Teague don't be awkward just shut up and listen" Jake snaps. "Talk to your girlfriend, see what else you can find out about this case"

"She's not my girlfriend" Teague tells him

"She should know about us, she'd more willing to help then" Jake says

"No!" Teague shouts suddenly "I don't want Whitley to know, I'm the one who imprinted on her so I'm the one who decides how much she knows" Teague yells

"Not if I make it an order" Jake threatens

"Oh yeah tough guy? Try and I'll quit" Teague spits the last part then walks away

"Teague?" I try to call him back but he ignores me.

The pack sat quietly in the kitchen after ward eating pasta while Jake filled Fable and Micah in on what they'd missed at the pack meeting, without the wolf telepathy they had to go over the details separately afterwards. It was a pain but there was really no way around it. "I'm worried about Teague" Ness says

"I know Baby we all are" Jake tells her rubbing her arm.

"Fable do you think you could talk to Whitley? Jake's right she needs to know" Ness asks, the room looks at Fable expectantly, none of the wolves could go behind Teague's back and tell his imprint, but as a cat the same rules didn't apply to Fable. Besides she was bad ass enough to willingly piss Teague off.

"It's Teague's decision, even I'm not going against him on this" Fable says and I sigh, I guess it was a long shot.

"But Whitley should know" Ness says

"Ness? This thing with Whitley and Teague is pack business, it's not mine" Fable says

"What are you talking about you're part of this pack" Jake says frowning at Fable.

"No I'm not"

"What? Of course you are..."

"Jake stop it" Fable scowls at Jake but Jake doesn't back down. What was Fable talking about she was as much a part of the pack as anyone else in the room.

"You are a part of this pack weather you like it not" Jake tells her

"No I'm not!" Fable shouts

"Why aren't you!" Jake shouts back, his voice shaking everything in the room.

"Because I can't shift anymore!" Fable screams.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Because I can't shift anymore!" the words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them. Everyone in the room turns to stare at me but the worst is Skar the confusion and hurt on his face breaks me down. I can't stay in that house anymore I have to get out. I bolt for the back door and find myself pacing with my hands planted on my hips, taking deep breathes.

My eyes fall on Skar's motorbike, he still keeps it here. I pull the sheet back and remember the first time he took me out on it. How it felt to be pressed against him, how good it felt to be close to a person like that after being alone all that time, how easy it was to forget everything else that was happening and just be in the moment with the man I was falling in love with. I wish I could get that back, I wish things could be easy again.

I take the keys off the hook and think what a silly place that is for him to keep them, but I suppose when he's bursting out of his clothes and into a giant wolf on the regular, it's hard to find somewhere to keep stuff like your phone and keys, it's not like a wolf has pockets.

I throw my leg over the seat and slide into position, I've never done this before but I've seen Skar do it, it can't be too hard. I knock the kick stand away with the toe of my boot and get my balance , once I've got the weight of the bike right, I turn the key and gun the throttle. The bike leaps forward and I skid onto the road almost coming off and only just managing to rectify the situation. Before long I'm heading towards Forks.

I drive around until the bike is running low on gas, instead of heading to the filling station up ahead I pull the bike into the parking lot of a bar that looks like a complete dive. It was one of those bars that when you walk in everyone turns to look at you, because they don't know you and they're wondering who you are and what the hell you're doing in their bar. I ignored the looks and walked straight up to the bar. Maybe if I got drunk enough I'd be able to enjoy a dreamless sleep tonight, a girl could only hope. I ordered a Jack and coke and took a stool at the end of the bar.

It never took long for some dick to try his luck with me when I was at a bar, my vampire DNA made sure I filled out nicely in all of the right places and apparently that made men act like desperate assholes around me. I ordered another drink and ignored the mans advances, he soon got bored and left. But it didn't take long for another guy to take his place and try his luck.

What in the world made men think hitting on a girl in a bar was a good idea? And anyone who thinks they'll find boyfriend material in a bar was equally deluded, I mean think about where you are honey? People don't go to bars looking for love, they go looking for sex, but some people just go for a drink. For some reason sitting alone at the bar meant I was an open target for these peckers, it was starting to piss me off, and then I got an idea.

I got off my stool and turned to face the guy currently flirting with me, I pulled my arm back then smashed my fist into his nose. He hit the floor and at the same time most of the bar was on its feet.

I smirked to myself and let the punches fly.

A man with a keg of a belly and a check shirt came at me with a pool cue, his friend right behind him, I took the cue from him before he could use it and kneed him in the balls. He crumpled in half clutching himself and I swung the cue at his friends face like a golf club. His friend practically flew across the bar like a rag doll.

Something smashed against the back of my head and I threw my elbow back without looking behind me, it hit teeth and then I heard someone hit the floor. A man with sunglasses on and easily taller than Skar grabs me and pins me against the bar, I thow a few punches then head butt him for good measure. He scurries away from me clutching his nose, blood pissing between his fingers. I'm pinning a guy down on top of the bar throwing punch after punch when something round and hard hits me between my shoulder blades, I spin around and duck just in time to miss the eight ball flying at my face. Some bastard was throwing billiard balls at me. I run along the bar taking a jump and drop kicking said bastard in the chest, he goes down with an 'oomph!' and I grin in triumph.

Just as I decide I'm done here a huge hairy biker dives on me taking us both to the floor. We wrestle and tumble around in the spilled alcohol and broken glass for a moment then I manage to get the upper hand and pin him, I drop my elbow into his face until he falls quiet, unconscious. I'm pulled off of him hands restraining me then they push me face down on the floor, I feel cool metal touch my wrists and decide not to bother resisting. It's the police.

I've lost count how many times I've found myself in the police station over the years but this is my first visit to Forks police station, and imagine my embarrassment when Whitley was one of the cops arresting me. They offered me my phone call but I didn't want it who was I gonna call? Skar? He's the last person I want having to bail me out of jail. Micah was too young, Ness would send Jake and he'd be pissed, and Gypsy would never be able to keep it to herself. Without calling in for a favour from the Cullen's I was screwed. And there was no way I was calling the Cullen's. I'd rather just wait it out, they'd release me sooner or later after all they could only hold me so long if they weren't going to charge me, I'd done this enough times to know that.

Whitley came back a little while later, I was just sitting quietly in my cell thankful I was the only one here. I looked up as she entered only to see Jake and Skar walking in behind her. I roll my eyes and sigh. "Whit I said I didn't want my phone call" I remind her and she shoots me a look

"Yeah well I used it for you, you can thank me later" Whitley says and I snort

"Don't hold your breath" I snap.

"What happened?" Jake asks

"Our girl here happened. Started a full scale bar fight, hospitalised eight men twice her size, caused three thousand dollars worth of damages then threw up her body weight in Johnny Walker and what I can only guess was fruit loops in the back of a squad car" Whitley tells them.

"It was Jack Daniels actually" I smirk and Jake glares at me through the bars.

"This isn't funny Fable" He tells me and I shrug. "Are they pressing charges?"

"No, funnily enough none of them want to admit they had their asses handed to them by a little girl" Whitley sighs. "She's facing a few fines but that's it"

"Does that mean I can go?" I ask and all three of them roll their eyes at me, I notice Skar has been quiet, he must be really mad at me. Suddenly this whole thing isn't so amusing anymore.

We were leaving the station within an hour of Jake and Skar's arrival, I filled in all the necessary paperwork and got my stuff back then I was on my way. They'd come in Skar's mustang so I climbed in the back and let Jake ride up front where there was more leg room for him.

The car was silent the whole way to Jakes house, no one dared speak a word. Jake looked disappointed and Skar was obviously pissed, as for me I was still hanging pretty bad in the back seat, to sum it all up I felt like shit.

When Jake got out of the car I considered moving into the front seat but when I saw the storms that were brewing in Skar's eyes I thought better of it and decided to wait it out in the back until we got home. We pulled up and Skar just sat there gripping the steering wheel staring out of the window. I wasn't sure if I should say something, he sighs. "What were you thinking?" he asks me and I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"I was just trying to get angry" I tell him in a small voice. Skar looks up and narrows his eyes at me through the rear view.

"Why?" he asks

"I thought if I got angry enough maybe I could force myself to shift" I say and he sighs rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb. I don't have the energy to stop the tears that fall, I just let myself cry not really caring at this point.

"Why didn't you talk to me?"

"And say what? Besides I didn't want to lay anymore on you than I already had. You shouldn't have to deal with this" I sigh

"Fable you're my imprint whatever you're going through I go through it with you weather you want to include me or not. But I can't help you if you won't let me be there for you" he says.

"Okay, I'm sorry" I say looking at my hands. I hear him open his door and when I look up he's pulling the seat forward for me to climb out. He holds his hand out to me and helps me out of the mustang. The second I'm on my feet he pulls me against his chest and hugs me.

"It's gonna be alright, I promise we'll figure this out you just have to work with me okay?" Skar says and I nod.

"Okay"

Skar took me inside and lead me upstairs, he lead me over to the bathtub and kissed me on my forehead. He leaned down to put the plug in the bottom then turned on the taps. "Get undressed" he tells me. I stare at him for a second not sure what's going on then he walks off and I hear him go down stairs. I stand there a little confused for a second was he not mad at me? Was that all the lecture I was going to get? I decided not to complain and began taking off my clothes.

When Skar came back upstairs he had a beer in one hand, open and half drunk and a mug of something in the other hand. He looks me over and his lips twitch in a smirk. "I meant take everything off" he says then turns off the taps handing me what I now realise is cocoa, he even put the teeny tiny marshmallows in it for me, he must really love me I think to myself with a smile.

"Aren't you pissed at me?" I ask worried it might start an argument but finding myself asking anyway.

"No" he shakes his head, he puts his beer bottle down on the floor next to the tub then pulls his T-shirt over his head.

"Then what is this? Why are you being so good to me?" I ask. He shrugs.

"Because I Love you"

"But I'm being such an asshole" I say and he laughs.

"I'm trying something okay" he says and I frown.

"What do you mean? Trying what?" I ask

"A tactic to get you to sleep, and without nightmares" he tells me

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"Well first I'm gonna make you totally relaxed then I'm gonna wear you out, even if it takes me all night" he says and starts opening his jeans, I watch his hands for a moment before I catch up to what he's just said.

"Wear me out!" I say outraged "What are you suggesting?" I ask although I've got a pretty good idea.

"What do you think?" he asks wiggling his eyebrows. "Fable? Loose the underwear already"


	12. Chapter 12

chapter 12

Fable lay on her side next to me; she was resting her head on her outstretched arm. I pretty sure she's drifting off to sleep, I shake my head and grin, not on my watch she wasn't. I let my eyes travel over her for a moment we were laid on the kitchen floor her body illuminated only by the light of the refrigerator that we'd carelessly left open. Her skin glowed, it was like she became more beautiful with every passing day, I smile and run my hand over her hip, her skin is cool so I pull her closer to share my heat.

I nuzzle into her neck and slowly begin kissing her awake, she stirs and after a moment I hear her giggling. "Don't fall asleep yet beautiful" I tell her.

"But I'm so sleepy" she moans in complaint but I can the smile in her voice. I kiss her shoulder and down the slope of her chest. I swear her boobs have gotten bigger, not that I'm complaining.

"You're not tired enough to sleep yet" I say and she laughs again. I start to kiss lower and Fable suddenly gets a burst of energy from somewhere and she pins me down on my back. "See you don't look tired to me" I smirk at her and she rolls her eyes.

"How about you be quiet" she tells me cutting me off with a kiss before I can say anything more. Her lips make pathways down my chest and over my stomach until she takes me in her mouth and a breathy moan falls out of me. My hands grapple at the floor as she takes me closer and closer to the edge desperate for something to grab hold of. She releases me with a wet pop and strokes up and down with her hand a couple of times before moving her hand down to the base and lower cupping me and massaging. It feels so good she has me cursing and gasping, begging her not to stop. Then the heat of her mouth takes me in again and it's almost too much to bear.

I wake up wrapped in Fable and blankets from the sofa on top of the kitchen table, we never actually made back upstairs to the bed. Fable is laid on top of me her head on my shoulder and her legs still wrapped tightly around me. I yawn and stretch my back best I can without waking her then it hits me, it worked. Not a single nightmare. I glance at the clock in the kitchen it's just before six, I was comfortable enough and I didn't want to risk waking Fable so I let my head fall back to where it was and close my eyes. I'm glad she's finally getting some sleep. Something wet and hot drips onto my chest, it takes me a second to realise Fable's crying. "Fable?" I whisper her name not sure if she's awake or not. She doesn't answer and I decide she must be sleeping. She whimpers and shifts as her breathing starts to quicken. I screw my eyes shut tight and hold her close as I can begging she's not about to have a nightmare.

"Please stop it?" she whispers and my eyes shoot open, I crane my neck to look at her but she's still sleeping. She'd never spoke in her sleep, sometimes she mumbled things that I couldn't make out but she'd never spoken clearly like this, I found it a little unnerving. I hated that she was scared and alone in her mind, it was one place I was helpless to save her from and I hated it. "Skar?" my brow creases as I hear my name, was I in the dream? She began to panic more and more until she began sobbing hysterically. "Why are you doing this, I love you" she says between breathes and then she started screaming and thrashing.

I felt sick, it was me. It wasn't a vampire that was tormenting her dreams it was me. I don't know what to think I don't even know how to think it, it was too messed up. I backed away from the table and fell against the kitchen counter, sliding down it until I hit the floor. My eyes burn with unshed tears as I watch her ride out her terrors. The agony on her face, the betrayal in her sobs, the fear, the way her heart raced like she truly felt she was about to die. It was horrible and I was causing it, not on purpose but I was the one in her dreams. It all suddenly makes sense now. I know she can't help what she dreams about but it hurt that she would even dream something like that. I would never ever hurt Fable, I couldn't.

She sat upright on the table dragging in her laboured breath and feeling the skin over her heart as if to make sure she was still alive. "Fable?" I call out to her gently not wanting to startle her. She jumped and let out a little scream bit not at the sound of my voice at the sight of me. She sighs then lifts her hands to put pressure on her temples.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were there" she whispers. I'm too shocked to even respond at this point. "Skar are you ok?" she asks and all I can do is nod. Fable pulls one of the blankets over her chest and hops down off of the table, she pads over to me then crouches, she runs one hand through my hair looking concerned. "Hey what's going on?" she asks me. I blink a few times and try to form some sort of words but nothing happens. I slowly force myself to stand up and Fable follows still looking worried.

"You were having a nightmare" I say, she gets this sad look on her face as if that explains everything.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't!... don't apologise it's not your fault" I tell her finding myself angry at the situation. Why was this happening hadn't we been through enough? Why was the world forever throwing shit at us? Over and over again. It was like nobody wanted me and Fable to just be happy. And Fable hadn't she suffered enough in her life? I just wanted the nightmares to stop; I just wanted her to be happy. Life was being so unkind and unfair to her and I hated it. I couldn't stop it or change it. The whole point of the imprint was to protect her and I couldn't. How do you protect someone form their own dreams? How do you protect the woman you love from her fears when you were the one she feared? I felt worthless, I felt hopeless and I honestly don't know what the hell to do "I'm going to go take a shower" I mumble as I push past her and head for the stairs.

When I came down stairs Fable had made a shit tonne of waffles, the table where we not too long ago been sleeping was now full of plates and bowls. Chopped fruit, chocolate chips, and cereals, all of the spreads and jellies and syrups we owned basically anything that went with waffles. A huge jug of orange juice and some slices of water melon on the side. Fable skips over to me and holds a big steaming mug of coffee out to me, she smiles at me sheepishly and I sigh. She thinks I'm mad at her. I take the coffee off of her and put it on the side. "Oh I'm sorry did you not want coffee?" she asks. I grab her and kiss her trying to pour everything I feel for her into it.

"I love you" I breathe then press my lips gently against her again. I cup her cheeks and rest my forehead against hers. She sighs contently and it breaks me, how can she even bare to be around me when in the safety of her mind it was me who was inflicting all her pain. I kissed her nose then both her cheeks then her lips again. "I love you so much I will never hurt you" I tell her. She looks up at me and tilts her head to one side.

"Skar? I..." she pauses as if she's not sure how to continue. "I love you too" she smiles at me. "I made you waffles" she tells me and I chuckle.

"I know, I can smell em" I say and she laughs.

I tried to act normal for the rest of the morning and Fable doesn't question me about my earlier almost freak out again. But I'm out of it for most of the day, I can't concentrate and I keep zoning out lost in thought. Kaden was chatting away to me about something I have no idea what, I didn't mean to be rude but I just couldn't get a word he was saying to sink in, my mind was already too full with other things. I got up out of my seat at Jake's kitchen table and walked outside leaving Kaden to talk to himself I didn't bother with my clothes, i didn't care, I just burst into my wolf form right there on Jake and Ness's back porch.

_Jake: whoa Skar your thoughts just hit me like a million miles a minuet. What the hell is going on?_

_Me: who else is phased?_

I start searching for my pack mates and find Newt and Vayle running just ahead of Jake.

_Me: get them to phase out I need to talk to you_

Jake didn't ask me what it was about or why it couldn't wait he just sent me his agreement through our wolf telepathy. Jake gave the two young wolfs the order and then we were free to talk in private.

_Jake: so what's going on?_

_Me: It's Fable_

_Jake: what did you two have a fight?_

_Me: no. I should have said something sooner, I was so worried about her, I tried to get her to see Carlisle but she wouldn't listen to me._

_Jake: Skar what are you talking about_

_Me: it's been happening since we got back from Canada more or less, but they keep getting worse and worse..._

_Jake: what do?_

_Me: the nightmares_

And then I show him everything.

Jake says nothing for a moment, just thinking and re thinking everything I just showed to him. I can feel his sympathy, he's thinking about how he'd feel in my position, if his wife and imprint was having nightmares where he was her killer. Fable told me out by the cliff that night, that she died in the nightmares, that meant in her nightmare I killed her, and that utterly destroyed me, I couldn't think of anything worse.

_Me: what do I do?_

_Jake: I don't know what to tell you, maybe we should ask Carlisle_

_Me: Fable won't go to him, she doesn't feel like she can trust them right now._

_Jake: Fable doesn't have to know we went, besides if Carlisle thinks he can help her we'll fucking drag her there. Ness is with Fable today so we've got time; meet me at the Cullen's. _

I agreed to meet Jake and then headed to the garage in search of my bike, Jake had picked it up for me from the impound lot this morning on his way to press Whitley for more information about these murders. I wonder if he managed to squeeze any more information out of her. He was hoping because he was the reservation cheif he could play the authority card, play it like he was worried about the people wanted to help and do what he could. I hope Whitley told him something helpful, I'd have to remember to ask him later.

I pull up outside the Cullen's and Esme is there to greet me with a beaming smile, she blurs over to me the second I'm of my bike and hugs me. "Where have you been, we've missed you" she tells me. I instantly feel bad, I hadn't been to see the Cullen's for week's now maybe even months.

"I know I'm sorry" I nod but Esme just smiles it off.

"Come on in are you hungry?" she asks and I laugh.

"Always" I say and she chuckles.

"Alice told me you and Jake were coming so I baked, we've got lemon loaf and coffee cake and cookies..." she tells me as we walk arm in arm to the door.

"Where is everyone?" I ask noticing the stench isn't quite as bad as it usually is.

"Didn't Nessie tell you? Edward, Bella, Emmet and Rose are all in Alaska visiting our cousins. Alice and Jasper stayed here but they're out hunting at the moment" she tells me.

"Is Carlisle here?" I ask.

"He's at the hospital, he'll be home soon" Esme smiles and I follow her to the kitchen and to the smell of cookies.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I opened the door to a smiling Nessie, I roll my eyes knowing exactly what this is. "Let me guess? Jake sent you to keep an eye on me?" I ask and Ness smirks.

"Maybe" she shrugs and I step aside to let her in.

"And what exactly does he think I'm going to do?"

"I don't know he didn't say" Ness says with another shrug as she walks into my kitchen "God it stinks of sex and waffles in here! what were you two doing last night?" Ness asks pinching her nose, I laugh at her.

"Well that would be kissing and telling now wouldn't it" I smile as I remember the events of the previous night.

"Hold on" Ness says turning to look at me and planting her hands on her hips "you got yourself arrested yesterday an instead of punish you Skar took you home and the two of you had hot sex and ate waffles? That's not right. Maybe I should get myself arrested" she says.

"you caught me at kind of a bad time I was just cleaning up" I tell her but she shrugs.

"It's okay I'll help" she says "Anyway I wanted to talk to you, are you okay?"

"You mean about not being a shape shifter anymore?" I ask and laugh once humourlessly.

"Don't say that, you're still a shape shifter Fable" Ness tells me and I sigh

"Yeah just one that can't shape shift" I snap at her then instantly regret it. "I'm sorry Ness" I sigh "I just don't want to talk about it. whatever is going on with me I'll figure it out but I just don't want to talk about it" I say and she nods.

"Okay, if you're sure..."

"I'm sure"

Ness helped me clean up and then we chatted over coffee for a little while. She was still worried about Teague but she didn't push the issue. I offered to make us some lunch, I had a tonne of leftovers in the fridge that needed using up and Ness was more than happy to help out her appetite was rivalling even Jake's since she got pregnant. "What is that smell?" Ness asks. For a second I thought she was going on about sex and waffles again. She moved over to the fridge and pulled out a jar of pickles, they were Micah's he'd lost the lid and instead but some cellophane over the top, I cringed as I watched the pickles float around in their juice. "I think I'm gonna hurl" she says and my eyes widen.

"Not in here! Bathroom now!" I shout and in the same second Ness is gone bolting up the stairs.

I pick the jar of pickles up off of the side and go to put them in the fridge, I laugh to myself Ness's outburst having reminded me of a similar incident just a few days ago. I came into the kitchen to find Micah making himself a sandwich the smell of tuna fish hit me and I had to run to the bathroom like Ness just had. I'd never been bothered by the smell of tuna before or the taste infact I used to love it, Skar would always make fun of me because he thought it funny that I was a cat that liked tuna. It was strange it was recent and all of a sudden I just didn't like fish anymore. I paused and blinked at the jar of pickles. The mood swings, the sickness, missed period. Oh my God is that what's happening to me? Am I pregnant? The more I thought about it the more similarities I saw between me and Ness, increase in appetite and I'd never had to pee so much in my life. I looked down and pulled my shirt forward to look inside, were my boobs bigger? Surely not Skar would have said something.

I hear Ness coming back down the stairs and I quickly throw the jar back into the fridge door and slam it as fast as I can. "You okay now?" I ask her and she nods, she doesn't look it.

"I think so" she sighs. I looked at her stomach there was nothing there yet, she looked the same as always, but she was only six weeks along. Suddenly her hand flew to her mouth and she was running back up the stairs. I went to the window Skar's car was gone he must have taken it this morning. Ness would never let me borrow her car, she'd ask a thousand questions then insist on coming with me especially after yesterday. Who else did I know that had a car...? Newt just got his licence, but that boy couldn't keep a secret if you paid him, Gypsy? But she'd bring August they never went anywhere alone unless they had to, and August was a vampire so that was out. Teague, I knew he could keep his thoughts to himself and he also might just be the one person who would do me a favour and not ask any questions right now. I walk into the living room and swipe my phone off of the coffee table, Micah had talked me into getting one, I didn't see the point it had taken me forever to get the hang of it and I barley ever used it. I fucked it up a few times but after a lot of grumbling and cursing I managed to write a text and sent it to Teague. He soon text back saying 'Why can't Skar do it?'. I pleaded and eventually just as Ness was coming back down for the second time he agreed.

"Hey Ness I just remembered I need to go into town to run a few errands, can we rain check on lunch?" I ask, she frowned for a second.

"Sure, what errands? Can I come? Oh we do some shopping while we're there" she says excitedly.

"Actually I'm gonna go with Teague" I say not sure how she's going to respond to that.

"Oh are you gonna talk to him about Whitley" she asks

"Maybe, we'll see how it goes" I nod. After that it wasn't hard to get rid of Ness.

Teague drove in silence he didn't ask me a single question about why I suddenly needed to be driven to town or why I had asked him, he just drove I was infact the one to break the silence. "How are you doing Teague? I don't see much of you lately" I say and he shrugs.

"I've been busy" he tells me

"Oh, with what?" I ask and he sighs scratching the back of his neck.

"I don't know Fable mourning my brother, being pissed off with myself that I lost my best friend because I thought I was in love with his girl maybe? Or how about feeling sorry for myself because my girl isn't really my girl because she was Jaide's first"

"Oh would you stop it!" I snap at him "Jaide and Whitley weren't together. They went out like twice they never even slept together, he kissed her once that was it" I tell him and Teague looks surprised.

"No you didn't see the way he came home talking about her, he was in love with her Fable"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it matters! I don't want her to be with me just because I'm second best!" he shouts and the car speeds up a little to match his rage.

"Is that what you think? Whitley didn't love Jaide, it was obvious he was falling for her but if you really want to know the cold hard truth Whitley was looking for a quick fuck before she had to leave for her training. And with Jaide's reputation in mind she set her sights on him" I tell him, it's not completely true, it might have started out that way but Whitley was starting to develop some kind of feelings for Jaide when we had to leave for Canada. But at this point I figured Teague didn't need to know that. He blinks at me a couple of time looking at me then the road and back.

"I don't believe you" he says now in a much calmer voice.

"I don't care what you believe, it's the truth" I say and I turn to look out of the window. "You know what I don't get; you fought so hard to get me to give you a chance even though you knew I was meant for someone else. Yet you won't give Whitley the time of day even though you know she's meant for you"

"You wanna know why?" he asks.

"Actually yes I would" I say and he takes a deep breath.

"When I see her, my chest fills up and I feel my cheeks trying to smile, everything seem to weigh less and everything seems brighter and more beautiful and when she's around me I realise I've never felt this happy, not since I was a kid and Jaide and I would try and build igloos in the back yard at Christmas while Mom was in the kitchen cooking with all the other mom's and imprints and Dad was talking with Jared and Paul and all the old wolfs. They're all gone Fable, I'm the only one left in that happy picture. Jaide never gets to feel like that ever again, so how come I do, how come my family keeps leaving me? What did I do deserve life when they didn't?" he says and I realise he's been silently crying.

"Wanna know a secret; it doesn't take time to get over losing people you love, because you will never ever get over it. There's no such thing. It will hurt like hell every time you think about them for the rest of your life and it will hurt like hell every time you realise you haven't thought about them yet that day for the rest of your life. And you will forever hate yourself and beat on yourself because you're here and they're not, and it's not fair and it sucks but its how it is and you can't change it" I tell him then take a long breath. It's hard to talk about the loss I've known but if it helps Teague even just the tiniest bit then it's worth it.

"I forgot you lost your brother too" Teague says in a small voice.

"Yeah, and my sprit and my father and one of my closest friends" I say thinking fondly of Rufus.

"So why did you want me to take you to town, what are you up to?" Teague asks me after a few minuets.

"How about you don't ask and I don't tell" I suggest and he shrugs.

"Whatever" he shrugs "As long as this doesn't get me an ass kicking from Skar I couldn't give a shit"

"It won't" I assure him and then we both fall quiet again. What would Skar say if I really was pregnant? I thought back to the night we'd first discussed this, how excited he'd been when we realised it might be possible for us to have a child. How would I feel if I was pregnant?

I made Teague park around the corner in the lot, I told him I was going to the convenience store but I went to the pharmacy instead. Once I had my little paper bag with the test hidden safely inside I made it back to the car. I was nervous, more than nervous so nervous I was tempted to ask Teague to come in with me and hold my hand while I waited to find out, but that would include telling him I though I was pregnant and I couldn't do that.

I sat on the edge of the bath tub with that little piece of plastic in my hand not sure how to feel, not sure what to think. All I knew is I was scared. With a sigh I got up and laid on the bed I glanced at the alarm clock, not long to wait now and then I would know one way or the other. After a few calming breathes I think I feel asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Carlisle paced back and forth as he thought over what Jake and I had told him. He seemed to be deep in thought as we walked back and forth behind his desk. "so what do you think?" I ask him and he comes to a stop.

"It is most curious, but I do not know what is causing Fable's insomnia. I do however think I know why she has been avoiding us" Carlisle says.

"Why?" Jake asks.

"Well with Edward's gift and Alice's gift... If she knows what's wrong with her she might be worried we would reveal her secret" Carlisle says with a shrug.

"What secret, Fable doesn't know what's wrong with her, she told me so and I believe her" I tell them. Jake and Carlisle exchange a look but say nothing.

"Perhaps we should pay Fable a visit" Carlisle suggest looking to Jake for his permission to pass over the border.

"Under the circumstances, I suppose" Jake nods his consent.

"Whoa just hold on a second, I don't want to just go barging in there and bully her into this" I tell them "Let me talk to her first?"

"Skar how long have you been trying to convince Fable to see Carlisle?" Jake asks with raised eyebrows, I sigh.

"Weeks"

"Exactly. Catching her off guard might be the best way to deal with this" Jake says

"Trust me when it comes to Fable off guard is never how you want to catch her" I say.

"Relax Skar she'll get over it" Jake shrugs.

"Doc? How do you treat conditions like this? I mean if Fable were any other girl what can you do for her?" I ask.

"Well there are a couple of things we could try, night terror in adults is usually associated with anxiety" Carlisle says

"What does Fable have to be anxious about right now, it's over we're all safe" Jake says.

"Your run in with the seekers perhaps?" Carlisle suggests but he's wrong I know exactly what Fable's worried about.

"Can't be" Jake says "the seekers never bothered us again we have to assume Fable and Gypsy were successful in leading them away"

"Hershel" I sigh and they both turn to look at me.

"Hershel Bette Noire?" Carlisle asks and I nod.

"Think back to the battle, Fable and Micah got that bitch that burned you with her touch then they got Ivan later on but who got Hershel? Nobody remembers killing him and nobody remembers burning his remains" I say.

"She thinks he's still alive?" Carlisle asks then he shakes his head "There was so much death that day, he could have been easily over looked"

"That's what I told her, but she still doesn't think it's over. She still worries he's out there somewhere biding his time" I sigh.

"Is there anyway we can be sure, is there anything Alice can do?" Jake asks and I look to Carlisle hopefully.

"Maybe, we can ask her, but I fear you won't like my suggestion Oskar" Carlisle says and I resist the urge to scowl at my full name.

"What?"

"Well we do know a tracker, the best there is" he says and I groan, asking Demitri for help was the last thing I wanted to do. But if it helped make Fable better then what choice did I have.

"Do you think Demitri would help?" Jake asks me and I roll my eyes.

"It's Fable of course that ass hole will help us" I say and watch Jake try not to smirk.

My phone starts to ring in my pockets as Jake and Carlisle discuss in which way is best to handle Fable. We all knew she wouldn't like it, she never liked people making choices for her. We'd found that out the hard way when we'd tried to stop her form going to Italy to rescue Ness. I stood up and pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket, I didn't recognise the number. "Hello?" I ask.

"I'm calling for Oskar Ambrosio?" the woman on the other end says.

"That's me. Who is this?"

"My names Principle Keller, I've been trying to reach your wife but there's no answer, Micah said you wouldn't mind coming down to school, you are on the list of emergency contacts" she tells me and I frown, wife? Why had Fable told the school we were married? "Hello?" the woman asks and I realise I've been silent for a little while.

"Yes, I mean yeah I can come down is everything okay?" I ask

"Your brother in law is being expelled" she says in an even tone as if it's not a big deal at all.

"What! Why what the hell did he do?" I find myself shouting.

"He got into a fight with another student" the principle says

"So what they're kids, kids fight all the time" I say

"I use the word 'fight' very loosely Mr. Ambrosio, it was very one sided on Mr. Lushnovic's part" she says

"And the other kid? Is he getting expelled too?" I ask

"Did you not hear what I just said? The only one fighting was Micah, the other _Kid! _Has a broken nose and broken arm" she tells me and I wince. Damn it Micah?

"I'll be right there" I tell her then hang up. "We're gonna have to finish this later, I have to go sort out Micah" I tell Carlisle and Jake.

"Micah got expelled?" Jake asks and I nod

"Yep, guess all I can do now is hope the other kids parents don't press charges" I huff then head for the door. "I'll be back later" I call back to them then head for my bike, I now felt stupid for leaving my car at Jake's but there wasn't time for a detour.

The school was pretty much empty by the time I got there, most of the students had already gone home for the day there was just a few faculty members and cleaners milling about the place. I made my way to the principle's office and saw Micah sat in one of the chairs waiting outside. He was looking pretty sorry for himself. He looked up and smiled at me, his smile instantly dropped when he saw how pissed off I was. "What the hell happened?" I ask him.

"I couldn't stop myself Skar, I just..." he trails off and hangs his head.

"Who was this kid?" I ask

"Caleb Lee" he shrugs his shoulders

"And what did he do to deserve the beating you gave him?"

"He hit Bambi" he whispers

"Bambi who the hell is Bambi?"

"Roshni! My spirit" he tells me and it all suddenly makes sense.

"Right doe eyed pretty little thing, your imprint. Who is Caleb why did he hit her?" I ask and Micah sighs.

"Rosh and Cal were arguing out on the quads and I was just keeping my distance like you told me to, you know staying out of it and waiting for him to fuck up and she'd realize what a dick he is" he says and I nod for him to continue. She called him a rapist and he hit her, back handed her across the face and she hit the floor. And then I just lost it. he's lucky I didn't kill him Skar" Micah tells me in tears now. I almost didn't want to ask but I found myself doing so anyway.

"Mich, why would she call him a rapist did he..." I trail off trying to find a better way of wording something so horrible.

"I don't know" he says shaking his head. "I know Cal's been pushing her for sex but I didn't have time to ask what happened. I hope he didn't" he says. Yeah me too I think to myself and then the Principle's office door opens. I stand and shake her hand and then she leads me and Micah inside.

It was bad, there was nothing I could do or say to stop Micah from getting expelled and this dick Cal's family were still undecided weather they would be pressing charges or not. Right now they were still at the hospital trying to repair the damage Micah had done to their son. So Micah cleared out his locker and we left.

He was silent once we got back to the Cullen's; he just sat at the kitchen table with Esme staring at nothing. I couldn't blame him for what he'd done, if someone had hurt Fable like that she'd have kicked the shit out of them for me but if she hadn't I'd have done the same thing. I was proud that Micah had had the strength and the sense to stop when he did not a lot of us that were imprinted would have, wolf or not. I don't think I would have, and Jake he wouldn't have stopped until he was just pounding wet chunks into the concrete.

I spent the rest of the evening wondering what the hell we were gonna tell Fable. I'm sure she's gonna be really pissed off, that Micah got expelled, that she wasn't there, that I didn't go and get her, that she didn't answer her phone. I was not looking forward to gong home tonight put it that way. I went downstairs to the kitchen to see how Micah was doing. He was still sat at the table, he hadn't moved since we got here. I plonked myself down in the chair next to him and took a deep breath. "How you doing?" I ask he just grunts in response. "that good huh?" I say and he snorts a laugh.

"So do you think Fable's gonna kill me or what?" Micah asks.

"Don't worry about Fable she'll get over it eventually" I sigh. "Hey Mich? Why did Fable tell your school we were married?" I finally ask him the question that had been playing on my mind since I heard the word 'wife'.

"She didn't, I did" he says and I frown at him "Well they weren't gonna let her boyfriend come and get me were they?" he shrugs.

"Oh"

"You thought Fable told them you were her husband?" he ask.

"Is that so crazy? To think that we might actually get married?" I say a little offended.

"No" Micah shrugs.

"You don't think she wants me to ask her do you?"

"How the hell should I know, this is Fable we're talking about" he says and I suppose he has a point there. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I roll my eyes as I pull it out, this can't be any worse than Micah getting expelled from school. I smile when I see its Fable calling then I remember I have to tell her Micah just got kicked out of school.

"Hey Kitten" I smile and then she starts crying.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_My hand slips and slides thought the growing puddle of blood beneath me; I reach out desperate to grab hold of something, anything that I can use to pull myself away from him. My legs won't work and I can't feel anything below my chest and pain everywhere else. I only have the one free hand the other is clutching something precious to my chest. _

_I can hear Skar behind me, he's close. My body shakes as his low growl rattles through the house. I don't understand why he's doing this, I thought he loved me. this is my own fault I should have fought back while I still could, but I didn't because I didn't want to hurt him even if he was hurting me I just couldn't bring myself to do it. _

_I beg and I sob and I plead but he won't listen he's beyond listening to me. he's too angry too full of hate but I don't know why, I can't comprehend why. He's on his feet now, human feet and as I look at the man I love I struggle to believe he's done this to me._

_"That thing is an abomination" he whispers, his voice is dark and cold like I've never heard it before. I can feel my heart breaking, I can feel my strength leaving me and I'm powerless to stop it. I can feel myself dying. I look down at the tiny treasure in my arms, the abomination he's referring to and see it's not treasure at all it's a tiny little baby, with a mass of fluffy black hair and Skar's bright blue eyes. He's stunning, a perfect blend of his mother and Father. _

_My body is so cold now my tears feel like they are burning me, it hurts to even breathe and slowly but surely I feel the darkness creep in. _

_"Skar please don't do this, I love you" I beg, he sneers at me._

_"If you loved me you wouldn't have done this" he says pointing at our beautiful baby boy. "That is not mine!" he shouts._

_"Of course he is!" I sob and I feel my shoulders against the wall, there's no where else to run. _

_"That thing is a bi-product of a fucked up experiment! That thing is not my son!" he screams at me and I swear the entire house shakes. _

_Skar advances and I scream, it's all I can do now, the baby cries and I hear Skar shift and growl._

_Darkness._

_There's no pain anymore, no sound no colour._

_There's just nothing. _

My eyes snap open, there's no screaming or panicking this time, because I'm not scared anymore. In fact I finally understand.

I see the pregnancy test still resting on the rim of the bath tub where I'd left it before I went t to lie down. I don't need to look I already know, I know in my heart what it's going to say but I stand up and look anyway. There it was two little lines staring back at me one darker, one lighter but they were both clear.

I knew what I had to do, it was going to kill me to do it but I had to.

I ran downstairs and got my phone, I had a million missed calls form an unknown number but I ignored them. I dialled and waited, there was only one person I could call and this time Teague wasn't going to cut it. I waited for what felt like forever but finally the other end picked up. "Fable? This is a pleasant surprise" he says.

"Demitri I need help" I tell him and I could almost fell his demeanour changing through the phone as I said those words.

"What's wrong?" he asks

"I can't explain now there's no time. I have to get out of La Push, nobody can know where, not even me" I tell him, there's a pause for a moment.

"You're in luck I'm on a job in Astoria, meet me at Sea-tac, wait for me" he says then the line goes dead. I'm about to phone him back because I have no idea where at Sea-tac then I realise he's a tracker, he'll find me. Astoria was somewhere in Oregon i think so I assumed Demitri would be going to sea-tac on foot, he'd probably beat me there considering I could no longer shift. Was that because I was pregnant?

I run back upstairs to our bedroom and grab the first bag I find in the closet. I mindlessly shove clothes inside it as fast as I can then pull a pen and a piece of paper out of the drawer. I write a letter for Micah. I hope he understands, I hope he won't hate me for leaving.

_Micah _

_I want you to know how sorry I am for breaking my promise. I told you we were in this together, and I told you we would stick together because we were family. I never meant to be untrue in that statement. You are all I have left, you are my only family but there is something I have to do. _

_You're not a little kid anymore Micah that's why I know you can handle me leaving, and how I know you'll be fine without me._

_I can't keep writing I'm sorry over and over just know how sorry I am. _

_We will meet again, I love you so much. But right now I have to protect the people I love; I have to protect all of them. _

_I'm sorry_

_Love Fable._

I signed the letter then folded it in two. I felt awful, I knew nobody would understand why I was leaving maybe they never would maybe when I could come home they wouldn't want me to for what I caused I don't know. All I knew was I this was something I couldn't not do.

I tried to write a letter for Skar, but what could I say to him? How do you tell the man you love you were leaving when you promised you never would. So instead I just wrote this:

_I love you, I will always love you. Have faith in that until I can come home. Have faith in us. Please forgive me_

What more could I say, how could I tell him I was carrying his child and that that child was in danger? How did I tell him our child was in danger because of him?

A cab pulled up outside of the house minuets later, once we hit the road heading for Seattle I realised I couldn't leave without hearing his voice one last time, who knew how long it would be until I got to hear it again, nine months? Maybe even more?

I leaned forward and slid the hatch shut between me and the cab driver, hoping to gain what little privacy there was to have in a taxi. I dialled Skar's number and waited for him to pick up. "Hey Kitten" he says, and that alone makes me burst into tears. "Fable? What's wrong?" Skar asks.

"Nothing I'm fine" I tell him as I struggle to make my voice sound normal

"No you're not you're crying what's going on?"

"I just needed to hear your voice. I love you"

"Fable you're scaring me, talk to me what happened?" he says and I bat my tears away with my knuckles.

"Hey I said I love you" I tell him and he sighs

"I love you too now start talking?" he insists and I smile.

"I need you to promise me something" I say

"Anything?" he agrees instantly. I Look up and watch as we turned towards the freeway. I needed to finish this conversation soon before Skar figured out where I was calling from from the background noise.

"Promise me if anything ever happened to me that you would take care of Micah" I say, there's silence for a second.

"Why are you asking me that?" he asks, and I hate myself all over again.

"Skar please?"

"Fine I promise now tell me what's going on?" he says starting to raise his voice at me now.

"I love you, don't ever forget that I love you"

"Fable!" he shouts and then I hang up. I write a quick text to Jake it feels wrong to leave without atleast warning him. Then just as Skar tries to call me back I wind my window down and throw the phone out of it as hard as I can.

I'd made my decision and there was no going back now. When I finally managed to stop crying I caught my breath and let my hand travel to my stomach. It was still flat and didn't seem any different at all, but I knew it was there. There was a tiny person growing inside me and I would do whatever it took to protect him.

I kept thinking back to my dream, the word; 'experiment' kept flashing in the confines of my mind. Ivan. That's why I suddenly started having periods when I hadn't for three hundred years before now. That's why nessie and Jake got pregnant after trying for over fifty years and giving up all hope of ever having a child. Whatever had been in those syringes he'd given to both of us had allowed this to happen. Ivan might no longer exist to take these children away but I feared Hershel was.

I got out of the cab at the airport and headed for one of the lounges, somewhere I could keep a low profile until Demitri got here. Thirty minuets later Demitri found me. I opened my mouth to start explaining my recent actions and behaviour but Demitri held his hand up to silence me and shook his head. "You don't have to say anything Fable, I think I see what's going on" he says. I frown at him.

"You do?" I ask, tears building up as I speak.

"Yours isn't the only heartbeat I can hear right now" he says then glances down at my stomach "Congratulations" he says and I laugh. Right, I hadn't thought about how wonderful this was yet, I'd only been thinking about all I needed to do to keep Skar's baby safe.

"Thanks" I sniff.

"Though I don't see why you're being pregnant is reason to run away" Demitri sighs and smiles sadly at me.

"Because I think Hershel is alive and I think he's gonna come after me and the baby" I tell him.

"Hershel... but surely..."

I cut him off "Search your mind Demitri, use your ability and tell me you can't feel him?" I say. Demitri stares at me for a moment and then his eyes become unfocused and his brow lowers in concentration. Slowly his eyes slip closed.

"It's faint, very faint. Too faint to track" he tells me "That's never happened to me before how is that possible?" he says shaking his head.

"Because I think he's an illusionist" I say and Demitri's eyes widen. "Make the decision, if I do Alice will see, she'll be watching by now. They know I've gone" I tell him and he nods.

"Are you sure this is what you want? That man will protect you and that child until his dying breath, you don't have to do this" he tells me. But he's wrong.

"I can't shift I can't protect this baby now but Hershel can't hurt us if he can't find us. It's safer for everyone this way" How many of my friends would Hershel kill to get to the baby? well he wouldn't kill anyone if i wasn't with them.

Before long the Voltori's private jet was on the tarmac and I found myself boarding a plane with no idea where it was heading. And as the plane took off, my heart felt like it was shattering in two.


	16. Chapter 16

chapter 16

Why the hell wasn't her phone working now? It wouldn't even ring. I was filled with panic, what was she doing, where was she going? It had sounded like she was in a car. "Skar?" Micah says carefully.

Jake came down stairs and walked over to me and Micah. "Hey Skar I just got a really weird and cryptic text off of Fable what's going on?" Jake asks looking slightly worried.

"What did it say!" I shout grapping the phone out of his hands. All the message said was: _keep Ness close and make sure your boys are ready they might need to be. _I collapsed back into my chair.

"Skar what's going on?" Micah asks me but I don't know how to answer him I don't think I can talk at all. She knew, she kept telling us it wasn't safe and the danger wasn't over but none of us would listen, not even me.

"Skar where is Fable?" Jake asks.

"I don't know!" I snap at him and then I was on my feet. I barrelled out of the house and phased. Deep down in my heart I knew she wasn't going to be there but I had to try and so I ran in the direction of home.

The house was in darkness and I felt my heart break a little bit at the sight of it. it was silent and her scent was weak but I pushed on inside, not even caring an ounce that I was searching the house butt naked. The first thing I noticed was a letter sat on the kitchen counter top. It had Micah's name written on it in Fable's elegant and old world script from another time. Seeing that letter sat there is like another knife to add to the growing collection currently piercing my heart.

I wondered up to our bedroom and dropped to my knees when I saw another piece of paper laid on the bed. I burry my face in my hands and rock there back and forth for a moment. I'm begging I'll be allowed to wake up soon, I'm praying this isn't really happening, I'm pleading with anyone whose listening that she hasn't really left me.

After a minuet or two I crawl over to the bed and weakly pull myself up onto the mattress. I lay there on my side willing myself not to cry as I unfold the piece of paper, there's no name on the front but it's on our bed so I assume it's meant for me.

_I love you, I will always love you. Have faith in that until I can come home. Have faith in us. Please forgive me._

I hear paws approaching the house for a second my heart feels like it might beat again because it sounds like a cat, but I quickly realise it's only Micah. I forced myself to stand, even though I didn't want to, I wanted to curl into a ball and never face the world again. I made my way downstairs and saw Micah all but falling in the back door as he looked around frantically and button his Jeans at the same time. "Is she here?" he asks. I shake my head and pass him the letter off of the counter. "What is this?" he says and still I don't answer him. I walk over to the window and stare out of it.

Micah slowly reads the letter mumbling it to himself, I catch a few words here and there and pretty much get the gist of its contents. "I don't get it" Micah whispers "How long is she going to be gone?" he asks. I sigh and rub my temples, my head was pounding. How could I answer his questions when they were the same ones swimming around my head? Why had she left me? What did I do wrong? What does she know that I don't? When is she coming back? I didn't have an answer for a single one of them. But the biggest question racing around my head was why didn't I believe her? She told me there was still a chance of danger, she told me it might not be over and just didn't want to listen. She needed me to listen and I was so desperate to believe it was over that I refused to. and now look where that had gone and got me.

Something soft hit me in the back of the head; I turned and saw a pair of sweats on the floor at my feet. "I know you're hurting" Micah says to me with watery eyes "But I'd appreciate it if you could put some pants on" he tells me. I stared at him not sure if I wanted to laugh or cry then I did what he asked and pulled the sweats on. As if that one interaction spurred me into action I suddenly found myself barking orders at Micah.

"Call a pack meeting now!" I snap at him.

"How, I'm not a wolf?" he asks and I huff.

"Then find someone who is! You're part of this pack aren't you?" I ask him and he quickly nods his head yes.

"yeah?"

"Good then go" I tell him. He doesn't wait around any longer he's gone.

It was gonna be okay, faith, I just needed to have faith. I just needed to be strong long enough to figure out where the hell my imprint had gone and then I could drag her ass back home.

Within the hour the pack had gathered at Jake and Nessie's house. I sat there in silence while Jake brought the others up to speed.

_Teague: Skar I'm so sorry I didn't know she was planning something like this I swear. _

That got my attention I turned to him and he stood up, anchoring his body and digging his paws in as if anticipating an attack.

_Me: what do you mean?_

_Teague: she asked to take her into town today, she was acting weird, really weird but I didn't press it,i guess she must have been getting supplies for leaving. I'm sorry. If I thought for a second she was planning to leave I'd have stopped her, I'd have told you. _

I consider attacking him and ripping the shit out of him for a second but what would be the point. It's not Teague's fault she'd gone, even if he did help her stock up for the journey. It was my fault she'd left and whaling on Teague wasn't going to make me feel any better.

_Me: we have to find her Jake, you guys have to help me?_

_Jake: We're your pack Skar of course we'll help you. _

We searched the state up and down but there was no sign of her, then we split up half of us went north the other half south and when we still turned nothing up we started venturing out east.

It had been days since Fable left, she could be anywhere by now. Everyday that passed and we didn't turn up so much as a faint scent I felt a little bit weaker, I felt a little bit closer to giving up.

Micah and I went to Canada hoping maybe she was staying with the Eagles but when we got there Tali and Max hadn't seen or heard from her.

We got back late Jake let Micah and I into his kitchen at four in the morning and fed us, Micah practically fell asleep sat up at the table until I made him go catch some sleep on the sofa.

Ness quietly pads into the room rubbing her eyes, we'd obviously woken her. "Sorry Ness didn't mean to wake you" I tell her, she smiles at me with this guilty look on her face and at first I think nothing of it. In fact for a week I think nothing of it until Jake and Ness barged into Fable's house early one morning when Micah and I were preparing to leave for Seattle.

"Skar I'm so sorry, Ness has something she wants to tell you" Jake says and I recognise that guilty look again.

"Ness?" I ask.

"I wanted to say something but I didn't know if it had anything to do with her leaving so I just kept quiet like she asked me to, but it's been weeks now. I should have said something sooner I'm sorry" Ness says and tears make tracks down her cheeks.

"Should have said what?" I ask

"That night she didn't come home and told you she stayed at our house... she didn't" Ness says, she pauses and shifts her weight uncomfortably.

"Then where was she" I ask fighting with myself to keep calm. Telling myself it won't be as bad as I imagine it will.

"She went to meet Demitri"

"What!" I shout, it was worse than I was imagining. I almost phase the second I hear his name and I feel the bite of yet another knife dig in. "Was she..." I swallow thickly I can barley even form the words let alone say them. "Was she sleeping with him?"

"What no!" Ness insists "She just went to see what he was doing here that's all. She didn't want you to know because she knew that's how you'd react. She swore to me it wasn't like that. Skar you know Fable you know she'd never do that to you" Ness tells me and I nod. Ness was right that was the one way Fable would never hurt me.

"So you think she's with him?" I ask

"Maybe" Ness says "I'm sorry I shouldn't have kept this to myself. I just thought she'd be back by now" I sigh, so did I.

"I called Carlisle this morning on the way here, he's been trying to get in touch with Marcus ever since. I told him we'd meet him at the Cullen's" Jake says and I nod.

"Ok, you ready to go Mich?" I ask and he smiles at me, I'm sure it's supposed to be reassuring so I force myself to smile back. He put the book he was looking through down and stood up. For the last few days Micah and I have been going though Fable's old things trying to get ideas of where she might have gone. Letters from friends she might be staying with, photographs of places she was fond of and might feel safe. Anything. No matter how tenuous or insignificant something seemed it went on the list. And in just a few short days Micah had composed one hell of a list.

Carlisle and Edward were waiting for us at the door when Jake pulled into the driveway and parked up. Nessie ran over to her Dad and hugged him before disappearing inside and leaving us to talk. "Any luck?" Jake asks.

"I spoke to Marcus" Carlisle starts

"And" Micah asks impatiently.

"Demitri isn't there; he's taken a sudden leave of absence. Demitri only checks in by telephone every few weeks" Carlisle says.

"That son of a bitch!" I seethe "Then he's definitely with her"

"Carlisle you've got other vampire friends right?" Micah says and Carlisle looks almost amused for a second.

"Yes?" he says.

"Don't you know any other trackers?" Micah asks and I feel myself perk up.

"I'm afraid not, none that are living" Carlisle sighs.

"So what are you going to do?" Edward asks and I think about it for a moment "Again?" Edward asks having heard my thoughts.

"What? What was he thinking?" Jake asks.

"I'm going back to Italy, and when Demitri calls I'm going to make him tell me where he's taken her" I say.

"This time coming with you" Micah insists and I nod.

"Hell yes you are" I say and he grins.


	17. Chapter 17

chapter 17

I felt a cold hand gently shake me awake. I looked around and realised the plane had landed, a second later I realised I hadn't had a nightmare. This made me even more certain that my theory was correct. "We're here" Demitri tells me, I still didn't know where here was but I didn't ask either. It felt safer for me not to know for now. I sat up slowly my head was hurting and I felt awfully tired, probably side effects from travelling and the lack of sleep I've been having lately more than anything else.

The jet was parked up on a private runway, it was dark but I could see the landscape around us was mostly countryside and lots of moor land. It was cold and rocky too but I still wasn't sure where we were.

Demitri guided me with his cold hand on the small of my back to a waiting car. He walked around and got in the drivers seat and started the engine. "A doctor is going to meet us at the cottage" Demitri says and I nod."He's aware of the situation, he's like me but he still drinks human blood I'm afraid" he says.

"That's okay, I can hardly expect the luxury of a vegetarian doctor right now can I?" I say and try to smile but my lips barley move from the straight line they've been in since we left Washington.

"He's been this way for some years though, he has restraint and control. You won't have to worry about that" he assures me and I nod again.

"Alright"

"We'll be there shortly" he tells me "You can go back to sleep if you want" there was a time when I would never have let myself sleep in the presence of a vampire but Demitri was my friend and for better or worse, vampire or not, I trusted him.

"I'm okay thank you" I tell him and he smiles at me but it's forced he's as worried as I am, I can see it.

"What's your plan Fable?" he asks.

"I don't know, find a way to draw Hershel out then once we're the one's with the upper hand we can lead him into a trap. I'd rather fight him on our terms than have him fucking with my head from the shadows. Everything that's been happening lately it's all been him, the nightmares the vampire attacks that we kept missing..."

"He must have some power if he can hide himself not only from my abilities but an entire pack of wolfs" Demitri says and I nod in agreement.

"That's what scares me"

Doctor Feldman was possibly the scariest looking vampire I'd ever encountered in my three hundred years. He had sunken eyelids and too tight skin, stunning features but terrifying at the same time. He looked maybe thirty and wore a full three piece suit, complete with bowler hat and briefcase. "Ah you must be the patient?" he says.

"Artemis thank you for coming" Demitri says standing and shaking the doctor's hand. "This is Fable"

"Hi Doctor Feldman" I say and smile at him, telling myself not to be alarmed by his red eyes.

"Oh please call me Art everyone does, except Demitri over here, that bastard always insists on the formalities" Art says.

"Yes he is a little uptight isn't he?" I agree with a small laugh and I see Demitri roll his eyes.

"Pippin!" Art suddenly shouts. "Pippin is my assistant; he's just getting my equipment from the car, where the devil is that boy?"

"Sorry sir I'm here now sir" says a young boy of maybe fourteen at the most as he runs in the door. He's blonde and beautiful with terrifying blood red eyes. The boy Pippin wheels a trolley with a monitor on it and some paddles and cables.

"There you are. Well Fable I was hopping you wouldn't mind doing an ultrasound so I can see how you're doing" Art asks and I nod over to the bed.

"Are you having a baby?" Pippin asks and he sounds excited.

"Yes" I smile at him.

"I think you're having more than one my dear" Art laughs and my eyes shoot open.

"What?" I gasp shocked.

"Can't you hear that?" he asks "There are three heartbeats I can distinguish in this room" my jaw falls open, twins? I turn to Demitri.

"Why didn't you say something?" I ask him, he blinks at me a couple of times before shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, it didn't occur to me that you didn't already know" he says. I let out a single laugh.

"Does it look like I knew?" I snap.

"Well let's get started, there's nothing to be done about it now" Art says as he and Pippin begin setting up the equipment. "Come here Fable and lie down for me?" Art asks and with a sigh I do as I'm told. I lie down on the bed and Art pushes my shirt up to expose my belly then he squirts some surprisingly cold gel on my tummy. "Oh sorry dear probably should have warned you that would be cold" he says.

"It's alright" I tell him and then I hear two heartbeats echoing through the room. Art turned the screen around and showed me the image on the monitor. At first it was just a mess of black and blue like white noise on an old TV and then it started to make sense the more I looked at it. I saw them, two little peanuts, my little peanuts, mine and Skar's and Skar had to miss this. It was so unfair, he should be here and if it weren't for Hershel he would be. "So this is your uterus" Art says snapping me back to reality as he points to the dark circle surrounding the peanuts. "You can see the sacs here and here and that they are fused together that's what we call Diamniotic Dichorionic that means they are in separate sacs but they share a placenta" he tells me and all the big words just go over my head.

"Wait is that bad?" I ask and Art chuckles.

"No not at all, this is the most common Chorionicity for twins" he says.

"Chorion… what?" I ask

"It just means the orientation of the twins, how they are going to be growing and if they came from one fertilized egg or two separate ones" he says and I nod. "there's nothing to worry about my dear, it's just important for me to know as your doctor that's all" he tells me.

"Oh okay"

"So there's number one" he points at one little peanut "and there's number two" he shows me and I smile. Tears spill down my cheeks, I miss Skar so much, I'd give anything to go to him but I can't, it's not safe.

Later that evening I found Demitri staring at the wall in the living room. "Demitri?" I call out to him and he quickly turns in my direction. I jump at the speed of his movement sometimes I wish that Demitri could at least act a little bit human.

"Is something wrong?" he asks me and I shake my head.

"No everything's fine. I was just wondering if you managed to find Hershel yet?" I ask hopefully. But Demitri shakes his head.

"I am trying my best" he tells me and I smile.

"I know you are" I nod.

"He'll let his guard down eventually I'm sure of it, and then he's mine" Demitri tells me.

"Demitri? I don't want to be a rude guest but have you forgotten something?" I ask. He looks at me for a moment and then seems to be thinking my question over.

"No, like what?"

"Well have you forgotten that your guest is human, well partly at least" I say but he just stares at me like I've quite possibly lost my mind. I sigh and roll my eyes "Demitri I'm hungry and pregnant with twins, you need to feed me. Your kitchen cupboards are bare and the refrigerator wasn't even plugged in" I tell him.

"Oh right of course, how stupid of me" he mumbles and speeds across the room to where his jacket is draped over a coat stand in the corner. He shrugs into it and looks up at me. "Did you want to make a list or something, I'm not sure what to get" he admits.

"Good idea" I agree and look around for a pen and paper.

The second Demitri was gone I broke; I collapsed to the floor and cried for what felt like hours. I was mad at myself, I was mad at Hershel I was mad at Skar and Jake and the others for not believing me in the first place and I was even a little bit mad that Demitri couldn't find Hershel. I was doing the right thing I kept telling myself that if I didn't I think I'd just give up. They didn't believe there was any danger and I couldn't shift to protect myself and if I can't protect myself right now I can't protect a baby either, let alone two. This was the only choice I had, all I could do was hope Skar would understand it one day.

When I hear Demitri return to the cottage with the food I stay hidden in my room until he's gone upstairs to his own room. I don't know what he's doing up there, he doesn't sleep. I creep downstairs and grab some food then retreat to my room where I spend the rest of the night.

It was going to be a long and lonely nine months, but maybe, just maybe in nine months time things will be different and I'd be able to go home. I honestly hoped it wouldn't even take that long; I had faith in Demitri to find Hershel. I wanted to be home before the births, I wanted Skar to get to see me pregnant, I wanted his hand on top of mine when they kicked for the first time, I wanted him to be there when our children were born. I didn't want him to miss a single second.

Under any other circumstances I'd have stayed right out in the open waiting or Hershel to come get me, it would be the perfect bait, but there was more than my life to consider now. I had the lives of our two little peanuts too and they were counting on me to keep them safe.

Yet again the dream stayed away and I slept peacefully, by this point there was no doubt in my mind, Hershel had been causing my dreams and if they were no longer happening. That meant he was still in La Push or near there. Had Jake headed my warning were they ready for Hershel? Were they watching for him? I hope so.

I hoped they were all alright but especially Skar, I knew he'd be looking after Micah for me; he'd have done it without me asking him to, Skar loved Micah like a kid brother. But who was looking after Skar.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I remember once when I was a kid, very young, in fact it's one of my earliest memories. It's also one of my happiest, my Dad was still alive and I was living with him in Seattle. My Dad hadn't wanted or planned for me, hell half the time he hadn't even known what to do with me but he loved me. He loved me because I was his son and I belonged to him, with him. Because that's what family do they stick together no matter what. We went to the Aquarium and he picked me up and let me sit on shoulders the whole day, I remember seeing all the other kids pulling at their Dad's sleeves and pestering to be carried but the other Dad's were tired and grumpy, but not my Dad. I stayed on his shoulders on top of the world because he loved me. I missed him, I was so young when he died that if felt like I'd never really had a chance to properly know him, and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that the people I loved kept getting taken away, not just from me but from all of us. That's how being with her made me feel like I was back at that aquarium on top of my Dad's shoulder's, on top of the world. And that's exactly how I loved Fable, I'd do anything for her, I'd carry her on my shoulders until I couldn't take another step I'd rip my heart out and physically give it to her if it made her smile just for a second, I'd do anything for that girl.

Fable was the one person I never thought I would lose, she's immortal, I'm immortal, it was a no brainer that we were going to live and be together forever, I thought she wanted that to. Maybe she still does, the words from her letter are burned into my brain and I read them to myself over and over every time I closed my eyes. It was like a prayer that kept me going, that kept me on my feet and kept me getting out of bed in the morning.

Jake and the pack have been working overtime searching for Hershel but so far no sign of him. We were starting to think the vampire attacks I'd heard about at the police station could be his, but if so we needed to figure out how he was covering his tracks and his scent. If a vampire was on our land how were we supposed to find him when we couldn't smell him? Micah and I were currently on route to Volterra; Carlisle had informed Marcus that we were coming so hopefully this time our reception won't be so cold.

I wasn't overly hopeful that we would find Fable here, although despite my best efforts Micah was. It was too obvious there's no way she would hide here, if I could find her here so could Hershel.

It didn't take a genius to figure out why she left, Fable couldn't phase anymore and even Carlisle couldn't figure out why. But if she couldn't phase then she couldn't protect herself. She saw herself as weak now, she thought she'd let us down if she wasn't strong enough to fight so she'd taken herself out of the equation. I knew her too well, I knew how she thought. She thought I'd get hurt protecting her and not watching my own back. But if I knew her so damn well why didn't I know where she was hiding.

I wasn't sleeping well not because she was gone, but because of the things I'd done in her absence. Every time I thought about it I just wanted curl up and die, I hated myself. She might have left but she hadn't left me and I shouldn't have tried to hurt her like I did. If she ever came back to me I'd be lucky if she didn't run straight back out of the door after what I'd done. I hadn't meant for it to happen it just did. I regretted it the second it happened and hadn't even been able to fully go through with it but that wasn't the point I'd still done it. I'd once told Fable it would only ever be her, and now that was no longer true I was disgusted with myself.

I was upset, I knew she was with Demitri my mind was running away with itself picturing the two of them together, he had her alone somewhere and he was in love with her. There was no bounds to what he might do to get something to happen between them. Maybe she bad a little too much wine one night, maybe she was upset after a nightmare and he held her. Maybe she just needed the comfort and turned to him because I wasn't there.

_I hit a bar and started hitting the bourbon pretty hard, I was on my third bottle before I felt the buzz and still had a long way till I felt what I really wanted, nothing. "Well if it isn't my knight in shining armor" a plastic voice says from my right. I look over my shoulder and see Sydney the girl from the garage. _

_"Sydney? How's your car working out?" I asked just so be polite. _

_"It's great, thanks to you" she gushes. "Mind if I sit here?" she asks and I shrug. She got chatting about something or other I wasn't really paying attention. I bordering on the point where you throw up then pass out in it when she asked me to dance. If I wouldn't dance with Fable the love of my life I'm not gonna dance with Sydney. So I told her just that. I thought she'd be offended but she surprised me and I think herself too because she said "Okay, how about you just take me home instead then?" I don't know why but the state I was in I thought that was a pretty good idea. _

_I didn't kiss her, and I wouldn't let her kiss me, I knew her lips wouldn't feel like Fable's. They wouldn't make me tremble or get my heart racing like Fable's could. All I wanted was to touch her and close my eyes so I could tell myself she was Fable. _

_We made it to her bed and I forced her onto her hands and knees, I didn't want to look at her if I did it was too much, too hard to pretend she was someone else. But the second I was inside of her and I heard her moans I couldn't do it. Her body felt wrong, her sounds weren't right. I was disgusted with myself, I hated myself and so I left. I left that poor girl on her hands and knees wanton and confused. _

I tried not to think about that night, it haunted me. I tried not to think of what Fable would say when she found out, tried not to picture the hurt on her face but I could see it every time closed my eyes. She told me to have faith in us and I'd shattered that the second I'd laid my hands on another woman's body. Russ used to treat Fable this way when he was alive and she was his imprint. I'd sworn to her I would never be like him, never hurt her like that, but I had.

The taxi pulled to a stop and I handed some notes to the driver. We were here. Micah and I stood looking down the darkened alleyway; it seemed like just yesterday I was here with Edward, Jake and Jasper. A huge hulking figure approached from the other end, Felix slowly came into view. "Felix" Micah says happily ad the two share a bro hand shake fist bump of some sort. Felix looks to me, we never really got on that well he was always obvious about whose corner he was in when it came to me and Demitri fighting over Fable, I suppose they are best friends.

"Skar" he says politely and I nod back once. "Marcus is waiting for you, this way" he says then retreats down the alleyway. Micah punches me in the arm.

"Hey they're the good guys now remember, can't you try and be nice?" he says. I roll my eyes, that sounds just like something Fable would say.

We were led into the throne room, it looked much the same as it had the last time I was here, only lighter and this time where three thrones had once sat there was now a huge desk with just one big chair behind it. Marcus was stood by the window with his arms folded behind his back. He turned around as Felix shut the doors behind us, he smiled warmly at Micah and I and for the first time Marcus actually looked like one of the living.

"Ah so good to see my young friends again" Marcus says.

"We need to speak with Demitri immediately, it's very important" I tell him getting straight down to business.

"I'm afraid Demitri is not in residence here at the moment. He's enjoying some well earned time off in Europe" Marcus tells us. Yeah with my girl.

"Europe?" Micah asks.

"Yes he called just the other day from London" Marcus says. I didn't believe that for a second Demitri was smarter than that.

"And when do you expect to hear from him again?" I ask.

"Oh in a few days or so I should imagine" Marcus says as he crosses the room and sits behind his desk. "Is there any other business I can help you with?"

"No, that's all" I say

"Very well, if it really is important you speak with Demitri you're more than welcome to stay. I'll let you know when he calls" Marcus offers.

"Thank you we'll do that" I say.

"Felix will show you where you will be staying" Marcus tells us with a wave of his hand then turns his attention to some letter or document on his desk.

"Do you think Fable and Demitri are still in London?" Micah asks me as we walk back towards the door. "She and my Dad spent a lot of time there when they were younger, it's one of the places on our list" he says and I can tell he's getting his hopes up again.

"Mich relax. I don't think Fable's in London, Demitri wouldn't tell Marcus or anyone where they are, in fact I think we'll have a job convincing him to tell us" I tell him.

"But it's on the list?" he says sounding disheartened.

"I know, maybe we'll check it out if this doesn't work. But don't get your hopes up London isn't as small as you think it is" I say and he laughs.

"I know that" he says.

It was days before Demitri called. I was nervous when Marcus called me down and passed me the phone. It was an old phone the kind with a cord and a big circular dial. I took a deep breath and pressed the receiver to my ear. "Skar I already know what you're going to ask me and I'm sorry but I can't help you" Demitri says before I can even open my mouth.

"Why because she got to you first?" I snap and there's silence.

"Believe it or not Fable's trying to do the right thing here" he tells me

"If she's there I have to speak to her" I tell him and I hold my breath praying the next voice I hear will be hers.

"Tell him I love him and I miss him" I faintly hear Fable whisper in the background, it sounds like she's crying.

"Fable?" I find myself calling her name before I can shut my mouth.

"She can't hear you Skar. She's in the other room now, this is hard on her" Demitri tells me I try and hone in on any background noise to get an idea of where they are but there's nothing, wherever he'd taken her it was dead silent. "Skar I need you to do something for me?"

"What? You ran off with my girlfriend and now you want me to do you a favor!" I shout clutching the phone so hard it might break.

"Find Hershel, I can keep Fable safe that I promise you. But Hershel is the one vampire that can get by me" he says and I frown.

"How is that possible, why can't you find him and I'll keep her safe?" I spit.

"Because I can't track him and he's not expecting her to be with me, my bet is he's watching you right now waiting for you to lead him to her" He says. Was that possible was I being followed by a vampire and I didn't even know it. "Wait him out, he'll lose his temper and grow tired of waiting soon enough and when he reveals himself you need to be ready. He's dangerous Skar he's an illusionist. If you don't know what that is I'm sure there's a vampire at hand who could assist" he says and then the line goes dead.

"Marcus?" I ask and he looks up "What's an illusionist?"

"It depends on the vampire in question, Jane and Alec both fell under the category of illusionist as do your friends August and Zafrina. To some extent even Nessie is an illusionist, she can put something in your mind against your will if she should so desire. Some can cause pain, some can make you see things that aren't really there, hide themselves from view or invade your mind and drive you to the edge of sanity" he says "Illusionists can be formidable enemies, in my experience it's always better to keep them as allies" he tells me giving me a poignant look. He turns his head to the door "Kane!" he calls, the door opens and a vampire cropped black hair walks in.

"You called for me Marcus?" he asks, his accent thick and upbeat and easily recognizable as Australian.

"Show my friends here what you can do, just don't hurt them" Marcus says with a small smirk.

Suddenly time just seemed to slow down, everyone in the room became utterly still, or stiller than they already were most of them were Vampires. Micah stared at me like he had been a second ago; I couldn't even see his chest rise and fall with his breaths he was that still. The pendulum inside Marcus's clock was suspended off to one side on moving and there was a bird paused in mid flight half way across the window. I couldn't move, I wanted to phase to protect myself but I couldn't I was literally frozen to the spot. I hear a voice in my ear and realize Kane is gone he's behind me now. "And this where I snap your neck taking your head clean off your shoulders" he tells me with a chuckle "Pretty cool huh?" Everything returns to normal and Kane blurs into view in front of me. He sticks his hand out for me to shake it. "Name's Kane pleasure to meet ya" he smiles.

Marcus chuckles "See what I mean?"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

My round tummy tightened again with another cramp, this one a lot more painful than the others. It felt like the babies were stretching both of their arms and legs all in different directions at the same time. My stomach was in knots it felt like it had turned into a giant fist that was clenched tight. I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes trying to ignore the discomfort. "Was that another one?" Art asks and I nod.

"Yeah, they're getting closer together" I say.

"You're in labor my Dear I'm certain of it" he announces. He throws his newspaper down and stands up "Let's get you to the bed, Pippin prepared it this morning" he tells me.

It wasn't easy but with a little help from Art I managed to get to my feet. Art guided me towards the bedroom; it looked less like a bedroom and more like a hospital with every passing day.

Once I was on the bed the pain hit again, in my lower back this time. Art had me undressed and in a cotton hospital style gown before the pain had even stopped. He pushes the gown up to my ribs then straps a thick belt with pads on it over my stomach. "What's that?" I ask trying to catch a breath.

"It's just so I can monitor the babies' heartbeats" he says "I assume you still plan on doing this naturally?" he asks and I nod.

"If I can"

"Very well" he says and sets to work again. My stomach and back cramped up at the same time and it felt like my spine was in a vice. "Well let's have a look and see where we are" Art says and then my underwear were gone but I was in too much pain to care.

Fat tears leaked out of my eyes and dripped down the sides of my face not because of the pain, because the only person in the world I wanted here right now wasn't. Skar. I suddenly realized Demitri wasn't here either. I'd grown to like Art and although Pippin still freaked me out he was ok for a vampire. But when I was weak and vulnerable after giving birth I'm not sure I wanted my babies' alone with either of them. Demitri would have to be a substitute for Skar, I'd feel safer if he were here, but he was still hunting.

"It's looking good Fable" Art tells me "Just a few more centimeters and we'll be ready" he says. fear suddenly spikes through me.

There was a burning sensation right down there and I wasn't entirely sure that I wasn't being ripped open. "Art?" I ask and he looks up "I'm scared"

"Nothing to be scared of my Dear, I'm right here" he says and I try to find some comfort in that.

For the next hour the contractions get closer together and progressively more painful. I was already exhausted and I was still to deliver two babies'. I took a few breaths and tried to remember the meditation exercises Art had taught me, Mind over matter he said, apparently it was supposed to help me get a hold on the pain. Yeah right.

It wasn't long until the first baby was ready to come into the world. I'd been pushing as per Art's requests when I heard the front door slam. I briefly fantasized about Skar breaking the bedroom door down, having found me against all odds. But it wasn't him, it was Demitri, I should be grateful that he's here atleast. "Did I miss it?" he asks and I glare at him.

"Does it look like you missed it?" I pant.

"Sorry, stupid question" he mumbles and pulls up a chair to sit by my head. "Artemis? Is there anything I can do?" he asks but Art shakes his head.

"Ask the mother" he shrugs. Demitri looks to me.

"Just don't go anywhere" I say and shoot him a look. He nods once discretely, he knows exactly what I'm getting at. I want him here in case either of the red eyed vampires in the room decided they like shape shifter blood after all. The scent of blood could be over whelming when there were three of us to snack on, and I might not be in any state to defend the children.

Of all the things I had suffered in my life, of all the torture and experimentation I had been subjected to I had never known a pain like this before. But I just kept telling myself it was all going to be worth it in the end.

"Ok Fable are you ready to try pushing?" Art asks me, I roll my eyes I don't think I'm ever gonna be ready for this. Was I ready to be a mother? I wasn't sure but it was too late to be asking that question now. I didn't want to do this without Skar, I needed him but I didn't have a choice. If this is what it took to keep our children safe from Hershel then I would do it, I just wished there was another way one where Skar could be here.

It hurt, a lot. I saw Art grab a scalpel off the side but I didn't even register what he was doing with it because all I could feel was pain. It felt like forever it felt like it would never be over and then suddenly… relief.

My head fell back against the bed as if my neck literally couldn't support it any longer. I could hear my baby crying. It was a beautiful sound but heart breaking at the same time. I want to sit up so I can hold him or her, I don't even know which it is yet but my body won't let me. I just feel numb. "Is she alright?" Demitri asks.

"It's a boy actually" Art says and my heart feels like it's smiling, a boy? Skar would love that.

"I can see that I'm talking about Fable" Demitri snaps and I feel my eyes drift closed.

"Fable?" Art calls my name and all I can do is murmur in response. "You can't sleep yet my Dear we need to get ready for baby number two" Art tells me.

There's a beeping noise that doesn't sound good and the atmosphere in the room changed. "Pippin clean him up" Art says and I hear my babies crying get quieter, after that all I remember is flashes.

Utensils and surgical equipment clatters to the floor and Demitri pins Pippin up against the wall. Pippin's teeth were bared and his eyes looked wild.

A needle hits me in the crook of my elbow and Art is shouting at Demitri to get Pippin out of the room.

Art grabbed another scalpel this time much bigger and before I knew it I was cut open from one hip to the other. I heard words being thrown around like "Maternal bleeding" and "Hemorrhaging"

I could hear the second baby's heartbeat on the monitor getting fainter and fainter, but the more I panicked the more I seemed to lose consciousness.

Demitri returned but Pippin was nowhere to be seen. "What's happening?" he demands to know.

"I have to get the baby out now or we're going to lose them both" Art says. "Stay with me Fable!" he tells me but I can feel the darkness creeping in.

The last thing I remember is Demitri's voice in my ear telling me I wasn't allowed to go anywhere because I was a mother now and my children needed me.

I came around by morning, my body felt like lead and there was a prominent pain between my legs. I had a terrible headache and I'd never been so tired in all my life despite the fact I'd just woken up. I looked around and saw Demitri stood unmoving as always in the corner. I sat up slowly with a lot of effort and with a considerable amount of pain too. "Where are they are they okay?" I ask, he smiles and nods.

"They're fine they're sleeping" he tells me.

"What happened, the first one seemed okay and then I just felt drained" I say with a frown.

"I'm not sure Artemis said there was internal bleeding, you lost a lot of blood Fable" Demitri says.

"But the babies are alright?"

"I just told you they're fine" he smiles.

"What happened with Pippin?" I ask and Demitri's expression changes instantly.

"There was so much blood, he couldn't handle it, he went for the boy. I did what I had to" he says and for a second I'm too shocked to answer.

"You killed Pippin?" I say not really in question just trying to wrap my head around it.

"Like I said I did what I had to, it was the only way to stop him. Artemis understood" Demitri sighs.

"I want to see them" I say trying to get out of the bed.

"Stay put, I'll bring them in" he says and blurs out of the room before I can protest. I take a deep breath and try and mentally prepare myself for meeting my children for the first time, but how the hell does a person prepare themselves for that.

I think about Ness, has she had her baby yet? How was it are they okay? Was it a boy or a girl? What did they pick for a name? oh my God what am I going to name them? I'd been so concerned with finding Hershel and making sure we stayed hidden through my pregnancy that all the little things like names had slipped my mind. I'd been preparing for the birth not for what came after.

I looked up as Demitri walked in carrying an oval shaped white basket. He laid the basket on the bed next to me and sat down by my knees. He smiled at me but I could tell it was forced this was difficult for him and I could understand why. It couldn't be easy to watch the woman you loved have another man's children "You're an amazing friend Demitri, I don't know what I would have done without you" I tell him and his expression softens.

I peer into the basket and get my first glimpse of mine and Skar's children. Both sound asleep and snuggled together dressed in matching striped onesies. One blue the other pink. A boy and a girl, they were perfect. "They're so beautiful" I whisper.

"They look like Skar" Demitri says his voice a little deflated. He was right they were stunning like the baby from my dream. They both had a full head of fluffy black hair and slightly tan skin halfway between Skar's and my pale Russian. My nose and cheekbones but the rest was all Skar. I could hardly wait for them to open there eyes I bet they were blue like Skar's, like my dream. "Any idea what you're going to name them yet?" Demitri asks.

"I don't know, that feels like something I should do with Skar" I tell him and he nods in understanding. "Are we any closer to tracking down Hershel?" I ask in the vain hope there's been news.

"Nothing yet" he says and I can't stop myself I break into to flood of silent tears.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

My paws pound the soggy earth with wet slaps. The rain hasn't let up for days now and my fur clung to me. All I could smell was rain and the must of the damp forest. Gypsy grumbled at my side she wasn't enjoying the rain either.

_Me: One more loop and then we'll call it a night, what do you think?_

Gypsy gave me a noncommittal grunt. I was sure if she hadn't been running she'd have shrugged her shoulders.

_Gypsy: I don't know it's your call, you're the Alpha_

Alpha? Yeah that was still sinking in. it felt like I'd never be used to it. The Day Jake and Nessie's daughter Kira was born Jake announced he was stepping down from his responsibilities as Alpha. He and Ness had spent so long wishing for a child that Jake wasn't gonna miss a second of Kira's life, she was growing so quickly, as quick as Ness had when she was a child. Kira was a year old but looked more like she was four. For months I'd refused and told him to pick someone else to do it. Teague was his only other option but Jake said he'd have picked me weather Teague was in a fit state to do it or not. He said he always knew it was in me.

I'd been Alpha for about six months now and in that time the pack had had several encounters with Hershel but every time that slippery bastard managed to get away. And every time he reared his ugly face he had more and more followers. Enough was enough, the next time was going to be the last time, I'd spent too long without my girl. Eighteen months she's been gone and every day I feel like I can't stand another second without her, but every day I bear it and live to suffer another day. It was hard to believe it had been so long, it still didn't feel real, I still felt numb even after all these months.

Just a few days ago Vayle and Newt had returned from a scouting mission, Demitri got in contact with me to tell me he was finally getting a lock on Hershel. He was close he'd been near La Push this whole time, just waiting and counting on Fable's return. But Fable was smart and she wouldn't come back until he was dead and she was safe. I'd sent Vayle and Newt to scope out the area where Demitri thought Hershel might be hiding out. He'd been right, Vayle and Newt saw him and like always he wasn't alone, he'd been amassing newborns and it looked like he was getting ready to attack. The pack was ready it was just a matter of time now.

The second I'd told Jake about the coming attack he'd taken Nessie and Kira and had them on the next plane to Italy, they and the Cullen's had gone to stay with Marcus where they would be safe. There was no way Hershel could get to Ness and Kira with the voltori and the Cullen's protecting them, I only hoped wherever Fable was right now she was equally safe. Jake had wanted to stay behind and help but I wouldn't let him, he needed to be with his family. His mind wouldn't be at ease if he wasn't with them and then his head wouldn't be in the right place for a battle, he'd only end up getting himself killed and there was no way I was gonna have Jake's life on my conscience.

Gypsy and I finished up our Patrol there was no sign of Hershel or any vampires on this end yet so we would head back to the house, where the pack was ready and waiting. The ground was becoming slippery and I was caked in mud up to my knees, I was wet and pissed off. I was pissed off with waiting, waiting for Hershel to finally make his last move so I could rip his head off and have Fable home where she belonged.

I think about her every day, I miss her so much, I feel so wrong without her like I'm not my whole self and I hate it. For a long time I thought I might hate her but I don't I could never. Ironically it was Demitri that made me see sense, made me realize she had reasons for what she was doing and that I couldn't blame her for them. She was safe if I kept telling myself that I could live with being apart right now, I just wish there was some way I could contact her, just a phone call so I could hear her voice again. I wonder what she's doing and if this is as hard on her as it is on me. I never wanted to just give in and come home, I'd wanted to keep searching for her, I loved her but I had to trust her. I had to have faith in us like she's asked me to. Micah hadn't been happy about my decision to leave Italy and come home either, especially when I'd dragged him with me. In fact Micah hadn't spoke to me for months after we got back, I loved Micah like a little brother and it hurt that he hated me so much but I could understand why. After months and weeks of dirty looks and snide comments he was starting to talk to me again, it was gonna take time for him to forgive me but I could wait.

_Gypsy: can you smell that?_

I slow down skidding to a stop in the mud of a clearing and Gypsy does the same on my left. I'd asked Gypsy to be my beta when I finally decided to step up as Alpha. She'd gladly accepted, some of the guys weren't too keen on taking orders from a girl but they got over themselves eventually. Gypsy was shining in her role as beta now; I think it's been good for her.

_Me: what? _

I couldn't smell anything out of place.

_Gypsy: Nothing just for a second…_

Gypsy trails off and then an unfamiliar scent hits my nose. It smelt like cinnamon and the forest when it was lush and green. There's movement up ahead and I feel Gypsy ready herself next to me. I anchor down too, digging my feet in as I wait for an attack.

The next thing that happens catches me completely off guard. Two little bundles of white fluff burst through the thicket. Two wolf pups fall over each other as they scamper towards me and Gypsy. I smell a vampire next, young, male. He hurdles over the bushes just behind the two pups but he's not alone. Fable lunges at him; she grabs him by the head and lands with her feet on his shoulders. There's a sickening crack and then the vampire's head is rolling across the floor. She's wearing a long black coat and her hair is longer and plastered across her face from the rain.

It was sort of hard to believe that I'm looking at her right now; I'm wondering if I'm dreaming. I've lost count how many times in the last eighteen months I'd dreamt and hallucinated that I'd seen her. But she was really there standing across the clearing from me, she looked more beautiful than ever and it felt like my whole world had stopped.

The two pups ran to Fable and she looked away from me she looked down at them and relief seemed to wash over her face. Then she started to cross the field with the pups at her heels and my heart started to race.

_Gypsy: You okay Skar? _

_Me: I… I don't know_

She stops just a few feet away from me and Gypsy, she looks nervous and her eyes are glassy with tears, I don't know what to do.

_Gypsy: Skar aren't you going to phase and say something to her, its Fable._

_Me: I know that!_

I growl at Gypsy in annoyance and notice the two pups back away and cower behind Fable's legs. Where did those pups come from? Were they shifters? If they were why were they cubs and not grown wolfs?

Next to me Gypsy suddenly phases back to human form and quickly pulls on a man's shirt, probably one of Augusts' based on the smell of it. Gypsy and Fable smile at each other then Gypsy rushes forward and hugs Fable. "We all missed you so much" Gypsy tells her and Fable glances at me.

"I missed you all too" Fable says. She starts to rummage in the shoulder bag she's wearing and pulls out two children's sized t-shirts one red and one purple. She squats down on her haunches next to the pups and her coat billows in the wind hiding them from view for a second. When she stands up the wolf cubs are gone and instead two children stand at her feet with black hair and my blue eyes staring back at me. I choke for a second in disbelief; this couldn't be what I think it is. It's not possible.

"Is that him Momma?" the boy asks Fable in a whisper probably not realizing I can hear him perfectly, the girl is still peering at me from behind Fable's coat. 

"Yes" Fable says in a soft voice.

"Fable I'm confused are they…" Gypsy looks from me to Fable to the children and back.

"Skar?" Fable says and my heart just aches to hear her say my name.

I take a deep breath not sure if I'm ready for this, having her back is all I've wanted but I never imagined for a second she would come back with two children in tow. They looked too old to possibly be mine, if she was pregnant when she left they wouldn't even be a year old yet. Then I remember Jake's daughter Kira, she grew fast, did these children grow at an accelerated rate too? I slowly backed away to the tree line and phased back once I was in the cover of the trees. The jeans I had stuffed in my ankle cord were soaked and it was a feat just to pull them on but once I did I didn't know if I could go out there. I'd been waiting all this time to be reunited with Fable and now I'd just found out I was a Father, or atleast I think I am.

I told myself to grow a pair and go out there, and so I did. My eyes searched for the children first they were huddled under Fable's coat from the rain. They were beautiful and obviously twins. Fable's black hair and my blue eyes, they were perfect. "Momma he's coming" the boy says excitedly and Fable smiles at him.

"I know baby" she says.

"Whoa he's really tall, will I be tall like that one day?" he asks and I can't help but smirk a little at that.

"He's looking at you, is he gonna kiss you momma?" the girl asks and I hear her voice for the first time, it's clear and sweet like a little angel. Fable blushes.

"Shush, he can hear everything you two are saying" Fable tells them and that quickly shuts them up. "Skar are you… I know this is…" Fable sighs and closes her eyes "I know you must have questions, and I have a lot to explain but we need to keep moving" I panic for a second then she continues "All of us. It's not safe here" she says.

"Hershel?" I ask. She fumbles and falls over a response, she swallows and I see tears build in her eyes.

"Yes" she nods "He's not far behind. Demitri held them off, I don't think he…" she cuts herself off and glances at the children with a sad look on her face. She didn't think he'd made it.

"Then let's go" I say the tone of an Alpha bleeding into my voice.

"You lead, they'll follow" she says, I frown at her, where was she gonna be?

"Momma!" they both protest in unison. I think they know who I am but I'm still practically a stranger to them.

"I'll be right behind you, you're all faster than me" she smiles at them. I was about to say something, that wasn't true. There were times in the past when Fable had out run me. Then it made sense she'd never gotten her ability to phase back had she?

"You still can't shift?" I find myself asking before I can stop myself, she looks hurt for a nanosecond then she shakes it off.

"No" she shakes her head. I don't know how to respond so I say nothing we stare at each other for a few seconds more, there's so much I want to say to her, so many things I want to ask her. I want to touch her, kiss her, hold her. But now's not the time so instead we run.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I broke through the trees onto a familiar driveway, my driveway. The pack was here and I could tell they were on high alert. I see the twin's human and huddled together at the back door, they ran to me the second they saw me.

All eyes were on the three of us as I scoped them up and walked towards the house. The kids kept quiet they knew this was one of those awkward moments where I needed them to behave and be quiet. Skar was waiting at the back door watching me carefully with his big arms folded over his chest. I wanted to run to him, I wanted him to take me in his arms and never let me go, but I couldn't too much had happened. I'd hurt him when I left I knew that all I could do now was hope I could make him see why I had to.

I paused at the door in front of him. "Can we come inside?" I ask, he frowns at me like I'm crazy and I sigh knowing exactly what he's thinking "I don't want to just walk in here like I own the place" I say.

"But you do own the place" he reminds me and my mouth pulls up in the corner and I almost smile.

I set the twins down on the sofa and turn to him; he's stood right behind me so close it makes me tremble.

"Shall I introduce you?" I ask awkwardly clearing my throat and he takes a deep breath.

"So I am their…"

"Yes" I say instantly again knowing what he was about to ask. He swallows and nods slowly

"Okay" he agrees and I smile.

"This is your son Sawyer, he's the oldest by nine minutes" I tell him ruffling Sawyer's mop of black hair and kissing him on the forehead. "And this is your Daughter Raven" I say as brush my hand through her curls and sit on the arm of the sofa next to her. "Kids you know who this is right?" I ask them, they both nod in perfect unison.

"How old are they?" Skar asks and Sawyer answers him jumping up of the sofa before I can open my mouth.

"Eleven months! But we look older than other kids so Momma says if a stranger asks we're four" Sawyers says talking super fast like always then giving Skar a toothy grin. My heart flutters in my chest when I see Skar smiling and trying not to laugh. "Wait, Momma? Dad doesn't count as a stranger does he?" Sawyer asks "We've never met him before"

"Of course he doesn't he's your Father" I tell him. When I look up Skar's staring wide eyed at me. I sigh; Skar and I really need to talk. "Can I take them upstairs to the bedroom; they've had a long day" I say. Skar nods.

"Of course. You might want to use the guest bedroom though" he tells me. I don't question him, but I can't help but wonder why he doesn't want us in our bedroom.

I lead the kids upstairs and tuck them into the guest bed. "Dad doesn't like us does he?" Raven says.

"Yes he does, he just only just found out about you two thats all. I told you you were gonna be a shock for him" I remind them and they nod.

"Maybe he'll like us better after we've had a nap" Sawyer tells Raven and pulls her into a hug.

"Get some sleep, look after each other" I tell them, it's what I tell them every time I put them to bed.

"Love you Momma!" They sing in synchronization.

"Love you too" I whisper and pull the door shut. I stared down the darkened hallway at my bedroom door. I had no right to snoop but my mind was working overtime to work out why he wouldn't want me in there. Was he using that room for something else now? Had he got rid of all our stuff and replaced it with things that held no memories? I pushed the door open and peered inside. Everything was thick with dust and just the way I'd left it eighteen months ago, even the pen I used to write his letter was still on the nightstand. The only thing out of place was the bathtub. It had collapsed off of its feet and smashed in two.

"I did that" Skar says behind me startling me "I woke up here the morning after you left and realized it wasn't just a nightmare and I lost it. I haven't been in this room since" he tells me. "You were pregnant?" he says his tone almost accusing.

"Yes"

"You could have told me Fable I would have protected you" he says.

"From Hershel and all his newborns? He's too dangerous, he wouldn't have stopped. I couldn't even defend myself; I was wreck he was making me like that, he was the one giving me those nightmares. I had to leave for them, to keep them from him" I say

"I know" he whispers and I blank. "I know why, and you did the right thing I just wish there had been another way. I wish I could have come with you" he says and I nod.

"So did I" I tell him and tears pour down my cheeks. Skar suddenly grabs me either side of my neck and pulls me closer resting his forehead against mine. "I'm so sorry" I sob "For everything"

"I know. Its okay I just wish I hadn't missed everything, I wish I knew them I… I heard what they said. I don't like them I love them, I love them so much and I only just found out they even existed, I don't even know how that's possible" he whispers choking on his words as his eyes brim with tears.

"It's because they're yours, that's how it's supposed to be" I tell him.

"They can phase already how is that possible?" he asks and I laugh

"I don't know, but the first time Sawyer ever sneezed it just happened he was sat there one minuet and a wolf the next. Raven didn't phase until she was a little older"

"How… I thought you wouldn't come back until Hershel was dead" Skar says "Why did you decide to come back now?"

"Demitri thought he might be able to get a better idea of where Hershel was hiding if he were a little closer to him" I explain "We arrived in Alaska five days ago. It was working then last night the house we were staying in got attacked, they burnt it to the ground and surrounded us, Demitri and I fought off as many as we could but there were so many we had no choice but to run. Demitri hung back to keep them off of us so we could get away, the last time I saw him they were all over him wrestling him to the ground, I don't think he made it" I say and more tears come. "We ran all night, I didn't know what else to do so I ran to you" I tell him.

"I've missed you" he tells me "So much"

"I missed you too, Skar I'm so sorry" I say "Tell me what I have to do to make it up to you? I'll do anything" I say. Skar smiles and moves his body a little closer to mine.

"There is one thing you could do" he says and I quickly and happily nod my agreement.

"Anything"

"Marry me?" he says. His eyes remain closed a small satisfied smile on his lips and I don't know what to say for a second. My eyebrows raise and my mouth falls open finding it hard to believe that he asked me that. I stutter for a second unable to answer him. I'm just about to pull myself together and answer him when I hear the back door fly open and Micah shout my name up the stairs.

Skar grumbles then the bedroom door flies open. Skar and I both look in that direction and Micah is stood in the door way with a massive grin on his face. He laughs in disbelief then runs at me; I can hardly believe my eyes. In the time I've been gone my little nephew has grown up, he wasn't so little anymore he'd gained over a foot easily and was now almost rivaling Skar for height. Not only that but he looked like he'd been working out with Jake and Teague. He picked me up and hugged me spinning me around. "I can't believe it, it's really you!" he says.

"I missed you too Mich" I tell him and he squeezes me tighter.

"It's so good to see you I'm so glad you're back!" he says excitedly.

"Micah keep it down, the kids are sleeping" Skar tells him with a stern look on his face. I look at Skar surprised and Micah frowns.

"What kids? Whose kids?" Micah asks, I glance at Skar but he remains quiet. I look back at Micah.

"Our kids" I say and his eyes go wide.

"What? Jesus how long was I out on patrol?" he says, Skar rolls his eyes "wait you left because you were pregnant?" he asks, I look at Skar with wide eyes really wishing Micah hadn't said that in front of him.

"No!" I say quickly looking between them "Well not exactly, not like you're making it sound" I say to Micah.

"Why don't you two talk, I need to brief the pack" Skar says and heads towards the door. I didn't want him to go I wanted to finish our conversation. I watched as he walked away, he was every bit the Alpha I always knew he would be. He'd always had the air of authority, always demanded respect from the other wolves without realizing he was doing it. I was so proud of him and I didn't realize I was staring at the door he'd just walked through until Micah started waving his hand in front of my face.

"Hey you still with me?" he smirks.

"Shut up" I tell him and punch him in the arm. He laughs and sighs.

"So can I meet them, I'm sure they're excited to meet they're new favorite uncle" he says and I roll my eyes.

"Uncle? It's more like cousin" I say Micah raises his eyebrows at me "Alright fine you're an uncle" I say holding my hands up in defense.

After talking it out with Micah he helped me cook dinner for the twins, we made enough for the entire pack, they seemed grateful but mostly I think they were unsure how to act around me. I think they were waiting to follow Skar's lead but even he was struggling, it wasn't exactly easy for any of us.

I really felt for Sawyer and Raven, this was really confusing for them, they were growing and maturing fast but they were still so young. They were being thrown into a world they only knew through my stories. I'd tell them about their Father and our family every night and now suddenly this world was becoming very real for them. Micah had gone to check on Roshni who I was happy to hear was now his girlfriend but she didn't know he was a shifter yet. Skar was outside with the pack and the wolves had the house surrounded so certain the kids were safe I went for a very fast shower while I had chance.

When I came downstairs I was surprised to see Skar sat on the sofa with Sawyer sat on his left and Raven sat on his right while Sawyer told him about their gift. "So all you have to is hold hands and you can hear each other's thoughts?" Skar asks.

"Kind of" Sawyer says "I can't hear what Raven's thinking just what she wants me to hear like we're talking in secret. And we don't have to be holding hands it can be arms, feet, knees, faces!" Sawyer says bouncing up and down and Raven giggles. "It's pretty awesome huh?"

"Yeah it's pretty cool bud" Skar chuckles.

"You can do it too can't you?" Raven whispers, Skar turns to her

"Do what?" Skar asks.

"Hear the other wolf's thoughts?" she says her voice even shyer this time.

"Yeah I can, but only when I'm a wolf" he tells her.

"Why couldn't we hear you and the lady wolf in the forest?" Sawyer asks and I smile as I watch him fight with his sister for their father's attention. Normally Sawyer got the most attention from people because he was a little chatterbox where as Raven was shy around new people, it took a long time for her to come out of her shell.

"I don't know" Skar shrugs his shoulders.

"Momma!" Sawyer shouts having spotted me sat halfway down the stairs. I batted away the tears I'd shed watching the twins interact with their Father. This was all I'd ever wanted for them to be together and for us all to be happy. That didn't look like such an impossible dream anymore but there was still a long way to go. Skar and I still had a lot to work through and Hershel was still in the way, until he was dealt with there was no happily ever after for us.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Sawyer and Raven were curled up on the sofa, Sawyer had his head rested against my arm and Raven was in a little ball next to him with her head on my knee. There was this warm feeling in my chest that I couldn't shake. How desperately had I longed for a family with Fable even though I knew she couldn't have children and yet here I sat with two of them? They were precious and beautiful and I could barley even fathom it.

Fable was sat on the floor next to the sofa, her head rested against her arm watching the children sleep. She alternated between stroking Raven's hair and playing with Sawyers toes. He'd twitch and kick his feet every so often when it tickled too much. Fable smiled every time he did it and I found myself smiling too.

It felt surreal; I had a family. A beautiful, wonderful family. I was so in love with her it didn't matter what had happened. I completely got it now, I barely knew our children but already they were little people with little personalities and I already loved them completely, and I'd do anything to keep them safe. That's what Fable did when she left, gave up her wants and needs to protect our children and I couldn't blame her for that, in fact I found I loved her even more for it. This was my family, I could see my life like this the four of us happy just being together. My beautiful Fable and the two perfect little children I never even dared to dream could be possible.

They were such great kids too, Sawyer was funny and loud and a typical little boy everything was awesome to him and I loved that, he has such a zest for life. Raven is a little shy but she's great too, she's such a sweetheart, a perfect little princess and the prettiest little thing I'd ever seen. Sawyer had my eyes but Raven her's were mine but with hints of purple like her Mother's when you looked closer.

"We should take them up to bed" Fable whispers to me as she stands up. She reaches forward and slowly and carefully swoops Sawyer into her arms. "Can you get Raven?" she asks me and I nod. Careful not to wake her I shift and maneuver Raven into my arms. I stand to follow Fable upstairs and it hits me, I'm holding my daughter in my arms right now. In spite of everything that's happening I can't stop myself from smiling at that.

Once they were tucked in and sleeping soundly Fable and I stood in the doorway just watching them. I wanted to kiss her but that felt like jumping back into the deep end after nearly drowning. I took her hand in mine and she squeezed mine tight. She didn't look up or say anything but I knew she was grateful for the contact. I knew she felt the same comfort from it that I did.

I thought back to our earlier conversation when I'd asked Fable to marry me, we'd been interrupted by Micah but I didn't know how to get back onto the subject. I was serious about marrying her, more so now that I knew we had two children together. I know Fable had always stressed her desire never to marry but I didn't care, I wanted to be able to call her my wife and I was fairly sure I could talk her into it. But I'd been stupid to ask her so soon, if Micah hadn't burst in when he did she'd probably been about to say no anyway. But one day I was going to convince Fable to be my wife.

Until then I guess we still had a lot to talk about. I sigh and Fable glances at me. "You okay?" she asks.

"I have so many questions" I tell her.

"Then ask me?" she says with a shrug, I think her invitation over for a second then back away from the door with her hand still in mine.

"Downstairs?" I suggest. With one last glance at the sleeping twins she nods and follows me, our hands never separating even for a second.

I take a seat on the sofa where we had just been sat and this time Fable sits next to me with her legs tucked under her body, our eyes lock and she gives me a small smile then she sighs. "I know I keep saying this today but I'm so sorry" she says, I smile at her and shake my head.

"I told you I get it" I say and her brows lift a little.

"But I…"

"Fable I forgive you" I tell her and for second I'm not sure if she's about to cry or not. She takes a few breathes then shifts closer to me. I stiffen and she immediately backs up.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to… I just thought…" I cut her off again.

"Fable I have to tell you something" I say and my throat grows tight. "I should have told you earlier upstairs before I asked you to marry me" I say, Fable presses her lips together until they are white and nods her head.

"Okay?" she whispers, she's scared like she's already dreading what I'm about to tell her.

"I was hurt, I thought you'd run away from me, and when I found out you were with Demitri I assumed the worst. I was sort of a mess, I went out and I got drunk, I mean so drunk I couldn't see straight. It just happened. There was a girl and I left the bar with her" I choke on the words. I force myself to look at Fable and the second my eyes meet her she stands up and turns her back to me. She covers her mouth with both hands and her entire body shakes with a sob. "I couldn't go through with it, I couldn't hurt you like that but I'd already started so I guess I already had. But I stopped and I left. I felt awful and ashamed and disgusted…"

"Please don't I can't hear anymore, it's okay just don't tell me anything more it's too hard" she whispers.

"I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't know what I was doing until it was already too late" I tell her but she just cries harder.

"Stop? Please? After what I put you through I deserve that but please don't make me listen to it, I can't, I don't want to think of you with another girl…" she covers her mouth as if she might be sick and I don't blame her I can feel the bile in my throat too.

"I'd give anything to take it back" I say, she shakes her head.

"Skar please? Can't you see this is breaking my heart?" she cries

"You had to know, I couldn't just lie to you forever" I whisper

"It's okay; it's my fault you did that" she nods to herself "I'm sorry. But I just wanna forget you ever told me"

"Okay, if that's what you want" I shrug my shoulders and she nods furiously again tears spilling down her cheeks.

"I'm gonna go up, try and get some sleep" she says "I'll be in with the kids" she tells me and then retreats to the stairs. I didn't want her to go. I wanted to talk everything out, get it all out in the open. Tell her how much I loved her and missed her, then kiss her to within an inch of her life. But I guess it was going to take time. Learning of my betrayal had hurt her of course it would but she had to know. I wish she'd been more angry with me, I wish she wanted to lay into me the way I deserved, the last thing I'd wanted her to do was blame herself for my actions and tell me they were okay, it was far from okay. But right now I was just happy she still seemed to want me around.

I sat on the bottom step and listened to Fable climb into bed with the children. "Momma?" Raven whispers.

"It's me baby, I didn't mean to wake you go back to sleep" Fable tells her

"Are you crying Momma?" Raven asks

"It's okay baby they're happy tears" Fable lies and I feel my heart breaking.

"Are you happy because you're home?" Raven asks

"Yes" Fable says

"And because Daddy's here?" Raven asks and I can't even describe the feeling I get when they call me that.

"Yes" Fable says "Now go back to sleep"

"Momma?"

"Yes Raven?"

"I love you" Raven says and I can practically hear Fable's smile.

"I love you too" she says

"You're the prettiest" Raven tells her and Fable laughs quietly

"No you're the prettiest" Fable tells her and for some reason i get the feeling this is a conversation they have a lot. It just sounds like that sort of playful and familiar banter.

"I bet Daddy doesn't think so, I bet Daddy thinks you're the prettiest" Raven says

"No he doesn't, he thinks you are baby. Now go to sleep okay?"

"Okay" Raven sighs. I listen until her breaths even out and fall into perfect synchronization with her brother's and then Fable starts to cry again, she cries softly all night. The sun is coming up when my eyes drift closed to the sound of Fable's whimpers and the children's breathing. I'm laid uncomfortably across the bottom few steps and yet I still get the best night's sleep i've had since she left.

As I slowly wake up the next morning, I can hear Sawyer whispering and as I wake up I realize one of them is sat in my lap the other leaned against my other knee."Are you sure he's sleeping?" Raven whispers, she's the one stood at my knee.

"Yeah he's totally asleep" Sawyer tells her.

"You two better not wake your Father!" Fable calls from the kitchen and the smell of waffles drift over to me but I keep my eyes closed for the moment.

"Momma look at the size of his hands!" Sawyer stage whispers "they're like as big as my head!" Sawyer says yanking on my arm and lifting it as high as he can. "Why is he so heavy?"

"It's called muscle; you'll have it one day!" Fable calls back.

"Why is he sleeping on the stairs Momma?" Raven whispers

"Your Father's been working very hard to keep us all safe so he's very tired so you better not wake him!" Fable tells them

"Yeah Raven if you wake him he'll turn into a big bad wolf and eat you all up" Sawyer tells her.

"No he won't! He'll eat you for being a big meanie!" Raven says.

"Maybe I'll just tickle you both to death instead" I tell them, they both jump and scream. They try to make a run for it but I grab them both around their middles and stand up with one under each arm. I laugh and they calm down after a second. I walk with them into the kitchen where Fable is working the waffle iron, Sawyer is laughing hysterically and Raven is giggling. Fable smiles at the three of us then plants her hands on her hips.

"I thought I told you not to wake your Dad" she says smirking. She looks up at me and her smile softens. She sighs "Hey you?" she says and I can't stop myself from smiling.

"Hey" I smile back. For the first time since she got back it felt like we were gonna be okay. I put the kids down, they squealed in delight and took off running into the living area once we were alone I turned to Fable. "Fable I…"

"Dad! Aren't you coming slowcoach?" Sawyer shouts from the other side of the room. Fable strides over to me and slams into my chest as she hugs herself to me. I lock my arms around her waist so tight her feet leave the floor and she sighs happily.

"I can wait, go be Dad" she tells me. She kisses me on the cheek, her lips lingering on my skin then she slides down body and back to her feet. I watch her walk back to the waffle iron, then decide to take her advice. She was right I should be using this time to get to know my children, I'd missed so much and I didn't want to miss another damn thing.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Breakfast had been ready for a while now and it was in danger of getting cold but I didn't want to disturb them, they looked so happy. The twins had pinned Skar to the rug and were clambering all over him. I lean against the kitchen counter looking out at them. When I'd seen them curled up asleep with him on the sofa last night I thought I couldn't love that man any more, but seeing him play with them makes me love him more than ever before. I can't help but notice a few of the pack are outside in wolf form curiously looking in at the Alpha playing with his children. "I didn't really think you were gonna eat us" Raven says laid on her stomach her face next to his. "I was only little bit scared" she adds and Skar smiles at her.

"Well I wasn't scared at all" Sawyer says "I'm not scared of anything" he tells Skar from where he's sat cross legged on Skar's chest.

"Really?" Skar asks "Then you're a much braver wolf than I am"

"There can't be anything that you're scared of?" Sawyer says

"Is it sharks?" Raven whispers and Skar chuckles.

"No princess it's not sharks" Skar says and I see Raven's eyes light up at her new nickname. But that was Skar he liked to nickname the people he loved, I was still hoping to hear him call me 'Kitten' again one day soon.

"Yeah you would totally beat a shark in a fight" Sawyer says

"You think so?" Skar asks.

"Yeah, I saw you in the forest you were like this tall" he says stretching his arms as high as they will go "And this big" she shouts stretching his arms to the sides "and your teeth were like huge! It was like roar!" Sawyer shouts bouncing up and down and making jaws with his arms and snapping them together.

"So what are you scared of Daddy?" Raven asks.

"Well…" Skar starts and the kids sit upright and watch him with wide eyes, like they do when I'm telling them stories about Skar. "I'm scared of anything that thinks it has the power or the right to try and take you or your Mom away from me. I want you to understand what I'm saying, I'm not afraid of whatever thing that person might be, I'm afraid that they might succeed. I'm afraid of losing people I love. That's the only thing I'm scared of" he tells them. "A man who isn't afraid of anything, is a man that has nothing to lose. Do you understand" he asks them and they both nod.

"Yes Daddy" they say in unison.

"Good now come here?" he says, he sits up and holds his arms out for him. They instantly hug themselves to him "I know this new and confusing and you don't know me yet, but I love you both so much okay?"

"Okay" they say. Skar looks up at me and sees me watching; I quickly swipe away my tears and smile at him. I mouth the words 'I love you' and the way he looks at me I know he means it right back. He stands up with the kids still clinging to his neck, he walks over.

"Breakfast time I think" Skar says. He puts the kids down and they hurry to sit at the table. "Can I talk to you for a second?" he asks me and I nod.

"Chew your food this time" I tell Sawyer then follow Skar to the window at the other end of the open plan ground floor where the children can't hear us talk.

"You've been so amazing with them, you're falling into step with this so easily, you're a natural" I tell him and he smiles.

"It feels natural" he says and I nod in agreement "I really wanted to finish our conversation from last night, the one Micah sort of interrupted" he says and I feel my face light up.

"Yeah I really want to finish that conversation too" I tell him.

"You do? It kind of felt like you might have an answer but I know things have happened that might have changed that answer" he says.

"It hasn't changed" I whisper and he takes a deep breath.

"God I want to kiss you" he breathes out and takes a step closer to me

"Oh Skar please?" I find myself begging him. He pulls me to him by the back of my head and his lips gently brush over mine.

"Mom he's doing it again!" Raven squeals and Skar and I pull apart with a sigh.

"What's he doing?" Skar asks.

"Firing chocolate chips out of his nose" I sigh and roll my eyes but Skar laughs. "Sawyer! If you don't stop it you're not getting chocolate again until you're seventeen!" I shout.

"Technically or physically?" Sawyer asks.

"Hey!" Skar shouts before I can tell Sawyer off, "Don't get smart with your mother" he tells him. Silence falls over the breakfast table. "Shit was I too hard on him?" Skar asks.

"No you did great, can you hear that that's silence" I say and Skar rolls his eyes "Wow, you are really good at that" I tell him.

"Alpha?" he shrugs and I laugh "Sure I wasn't too hard on him?"

"Are you kidding he's fine, he'll be running around and making butt noises with his armpits before you know it" I tell him and we both laugh. "So erm where were we?" I ask and stand on my tip toes to kiss him again. Skar chuckles and holds me back by my shoulders.

"I think you were about to answer my question" he says then leans in his lips a hair's width away from mine "So was it a yes or a no?" he asks.

Gypsy howls somewhere outside and Skar's head snaps up. "He's here" he says.

"Hershel?" I ask and he nods once. "Sawyer! Raven! Upstairs now!"

"What's wrong Momma?" Sawyer asks.

"Now!" I shout. Waffles and glasses of juice were dropped to the table and they sprinted up the stairs. I looked at Skar.

"I love you" he says then he's out the door.

It felt like I might be having an outer body experience for second because I just stood there. I was screaming at myself to move but I did nothing, then the adrenaline and the instinct kicked in and I was up the stairs. Sawyer and Raven were waiting for me in the guest bedroom, I hate that they look terrified, I hate that this has to be a part of their lives. "Follow me" I tell them and they do it instantly. We run into mine and Skar's bedroom and I walk into the closet, I bend down and open one of the cupboards, it's filled with shoes and boots so I start grabbing them and stuffing them into one of the other cupboards until it's empty. "Shift and get inside" I tell them they do it quickly and without a single question. Once they're in I pick up all the scraps of their clothes and shove them in a drawer then squat down to look at them. "You know what to do, be absolutely silent. You can't make a single sound. If someone that you don't know open's this door you run as fast as you can. Stay together and take care of each other. I love you both so much. Your Dad isn't gonna let them near this house he loves you too much to let that happen. Be brave and be quiet. It's gonna be okay" I say then I shut them in, I hear them whining and whimpering for a second then they're silent like i told them to. I let out a shaky breath, my entire body trembling.

I was scared for them, it was like Skar told Sawyer and Raven, I wasn't scared of Hershel I was scared of him winning, I was scared of him taking my family away.

To any Vampire this house would stink of wolf, they wouldn't be able to pick the children's scent out in it. They knew how to be quiet I'd been preparing them for this day since they were born. The only way a vampire was finding those kids was if they tore this house apart.

When I reached the back door the vampires had already arrived. I spot August crouched on the roof of Gypsy's jeep; I guess he didn't go to Italy with the rest of the Cullen's. I'm not surprised; he wouldn't want to be away from her especially at a time like this. He notices me there and sends me a wink of encouragement then his eyes are back on Gypsy watching her every move. "Send her out! Send Fable to me and none of you has to die here" Hershel announces to the pack. Skar growls lowly at him and see the tension in his back he's ready to pounce. The tree line is littered with vampires, the majority newborns. We were out numbered. "I have something of hers!" he shouts and I peer a little closer and I watch in horror as he holds up Demitri's severed head. My hand flies to my mouth, half of me wants to scream the other half wants throw up.

I step out of the door and Hershel is instantly watching me. "I'm right here" I tell him. I can feel Skar glaring at me; I think he expected me to stay inside with the children. I start to walk towards Hershel and Skar gets in my way. He growls and nudges me in the chest with his nose, I stroke the side of his face with my hand and the rain starts up again. I lean down so my mouth is close to his ear and I whisper so only he can hear me "Trust me?" he looks at me and all I see is fear and worry but there's trust there too. After everything we'd been through since the very first day we met he was finally stepping back and letting me handle things. It was a big deal and it meant a lot to me. Micah tried to run after me but Skar stopped him and held him back.

I walk confidently up to Hershel only stopping when there was a few feet left between us. Hershel snarls and throw's Demitri's head to the floor, poor Demitri. "Just tell me one thing before you kill me?" I ask him and he narrows his eyes at me "why?"

"You killed my mate" he shrugs as if that were obvious.

"I'm the one you want? Just me?" I ask in disbelief, all this time I thought he was following in Ivan's footsteps, I thought he wanted Sawyer and Raven and possibly Kira too. But all he wanted was revenge; he wanted payment for the live I'd taken from him.

"You thought this was about anything else?" he asks sounding surprised. It was obvious now, I was the one he'd been fucking with for all those month making me dream the most hideous things, he hadn't done that to Ness and yet she'd been injected with that serum just like I had. The rain pelted down and I took a breath weighing my options, deciding weather I was gonna walk away from this fight or not.

I close the distance between me and Hershel, he could reach out and break my neck if he wanted to but something tells me he wants to drag this out and make me suffer. "You didn't have to do this, you could have walked away in Canada and got on with your life" I tell him

"You killed my mate!" he snaps again.

"She killed mine first" I say simply but this seems to make him even angrier.

"So a mate for a mate is it? Then it's convenient you have another, you can watch while I kill him!" Hershel spits, that's when I lose it. I lunge at him grappling for his throat but he leans out of the way then swipes at me. I only just dive out of his grasp in time.

He's faster than me, a lot faster but I just spent eleven months training for this moment with Demitri, so I tell myself I can beat him. Then he punches me in the stomach and I find myself flying through the mud.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The second Fable landed that first hit on Hershel chaos broke out. I was trying to get to her but it seemed every head I tore off there was another one baring its teeth at me.

The newborns were unorganized and sloppy and the pack was making short work of them. I spat out another head and leaped at the nearest vampire taking his shoulder and the majority of his torso in my jaws. I flung the vampire into the air and Teague was right there he grabbed the vampire mid air and finishes it off for me.

_Me: thanks._

_Teague: Got your back boss_

Teague and I both duck as a few muddy body parts come flying at us from Micah's direction, he was pissed and I knew how he felt. He paused just long enough to give me a nod then he pounced with precision and grace at his nearest target with a very cat like roar.

I dealt with a few more newborns before I got a glimpse of Fable she was wrestling on the ground with Hershel, she had him pinned but only for a split second before he kicked her off of him and she was flying through the air. She crashed into a group of newborns and they all fell to the floor. She was on her feet soon enough and dealing with the newborns but I could see Hershel advancing on her.

_Me: Tea!_

_Teague: I see him!_

Teague and I ran towards Hershel only marginally slowed by the hordes of newborns. Pain flashed through my mind and then Gypsy was gone. The pack started to panic wondering what had happened to their beta. I rifled through the others thought until I got to Vayle. He was surrounded and had at least three newborns clinging to his back. Gypsy was laid on the ground just ahead of him, human and rolling around in pain, August was stood defensively over her throwing off any vampire that got close, Lightning arced in the sky and I knew it was because August was pissed. Gypsy was gonna be okay but Vayle was still in trouble.

_Me: Teague go to him!_

_Teague: What about Hershel?_

_Me: Now!_

Teague huffed but did as he was told and rocketed in that direction.

When I finally got to Fable and Hershel she was on his back, the newborns she'd been struggling with in pieces at their feet. She hung on to him while he thrashed and tried to grab hold of her, she had one arm around his neck almost in a head lock and the other grabbing a fistful of his hair and pulling his head back. A crack appeared on Hershel's neck and lower jaw and then he managed to grab Fable by the throat. He yanked her roughly off of his back and slammed her into the floor so hard I felt the ground move, all of the air left her lungs and she gasped and choked for more. He leaned over her teeth bared and I lunged reaching them just in time.

He reacted too quickly for me to get a hold of him with my teeth but I managed to knock him off of Fable and the two of us went tumbling through the mud. Both of us frantically trying to land a blow on the other. He brought his knee up into my stomach and I felt a couple of my ribs break as I flew off of him. He went for me again before I could land, his teeth bared about to bite me when Fable tackled him in the side, he barely moved a foot but it was enough for me to dodge his bite.

Hershel got to his feet and together Fable and I circled him. "It's over Hershel, look around" Fable says to him and she's right. Everywhere you look vampires lay dead, wolves disposing of the few that remained and fires beginning to be lit in the distance. He let out a strangled cry of rage and jumped at Fable, I was quicker and got in his way, the hit sent us both tumbling in the opposite direction, Fable hit the floor but I managed to find my feet just in time to keep from crushing her. There was a sharp pain in my chest and I was suddenly finding it hard to breathe, my fear was that hit had forced one of my broken ribs into my lung.

Hershel went for me again and I was either too weak or just in too much pain to stop him; he grabbed my paws and held me still then wrenched them as far apart as his own arms would stretch. When I was a wolf my arms didn't bend that way and I felt a horrible crushing pain around my heart, my pulse sped up and I started to see black spots. It was pain like I'd never felt before and it honestly feels like I'm about to die.

Fable slides through the mud beneath us then jumps to her feet behind Hershel, she kicked his legs apart and he almost went down relieving some of the pressure he was causing around my heart. She forced her foot against the back of his knee with more strength than I'd ever seen her display and the lower part of his leg sheared off. He collapsed fully releasing his hold in me and I hit the floor with him desperately trying to breathe again.

Everything was spinning and I could hear my blood pumping loudly in my ears, for a second I didn't think it was ever going to happen then it finally felt like I could breathe again. Shakily I got to my paws and I saw Fable pinning Hershel to the ground sat on his chest while he wriggled and struggled her knees keeping his flailing arms firmly against the mud. She looks up at me her beautiful face splattered with dirt and blood, streaked from the rain. I prowl closer and she locks her hands around Hershel's throat holding him still for me. "You do it, End this" she tells me "For Sawyer and Raven" she whispers staring at me like I'm the greatest person in the world. She was letting me take the kill and somewhere on a baser instinct level that was significant to me, sharing a kill with my mate my wolf was thrilled.

She doesn't have to say anything else the second I heard our pup's names a snarl ripped out of me. Hershel was smiling as I closed in on him, he closed his eyes and he looked almost peaceful, he breathed the words "almost there my love" and then I went for his head satisfied in the knowledge the last thing he would ever see was the inside of my mouth.

Fable steps away, she wobbles and clutches her leg in pain. She lets out a little yelp of pain before going down on one knee. She laughs then starts crying, I know it's because she's happy, she's relieved. I turn to look at my pack and they're walking towards me some of them limping some of them covered in blood but they're on their feet and they're okay. They did good and I convey to them though the mind link how thankful and proud I am, not a single vampire left alive, except August of course. I scan the crowd for Gypsy, she's limping next to August as he supports most of her weight and fusses over her.

Micah is walking over to us in human form wearing a pair of khaki cut offs, he's holding an armful of clothes and the pack starts phasing back and changing. I phase back too, my lungs absolutely burning. I wretch and cough once I'm on human feet, my own blood splattering across my hand. I take in a shaky breath then look to Fable, she's watching me carefully. I walk the few steps to her and she bites her lip and shrinks into herself like she thinks I'm about to shout at her. I don't, I drop to my knees right in front of her and pull her lips against mine.

I kiss her with the kind of hunger and determination I've been dying to since she got back. She moans and grasps fistfuls of my wet hair pressing her body against mine. I'm bruised and it hurts but I don't care, I want her this close, I want her closer than this. I don't even care that I'm soaked and butt naked. After a few minuets of this the pack start laughing and making wise cracks. I let her go and I can barely breathe, I gasp for air and clutch at my chest. Fable's content expression vanishes and she suddenly looks panic stricken. "Skar?" she says, but I can't answer her, I can't breathe in deep enough to convey any words.

I start choking again and more blood comes out, in seconds Fable has me lied on my side like you'd do to someone who'd just nearly drowned. "What's wrong with him?" Teague asks kneeling down next to Fable.

"I'm not sure" she says sounding scared. She brushed her hand over my broken ribs so gently I hardly felt it. "Are they broken?" she asks me and all I can do is grunt in response as I try to breathe in and out normally again. I can't talk it felt like I was trying to talk whilst underwater. I seem to have stopped choking on my own blood now but the burn in my chest is still there and it's still agony.

"August!" Teague shouts and Fable looks up confused. Teague notices "Carlisle's been teaching him a few things" he tells her and she nods, Carlisle had practically taken August on as an intern recently. She smiles at me and brushes her hand over my cheek.

"I love you" she whispers and leans forward kissing me softly.

In seconds August comes into view "What happened?" he asks. Fable immediately tells him everything not skipping a single detail.

"I think it punctured his lung when Hershel hit him" she finishes and August nods but looks a little uneasy, I couldn't help but notice he wasn't breathing.

"Sounds like it" he says in a tight voice.

"You gonna be ok with the blood buddy?" Teague asks August, I could tell by his face he was ready and prepared to do what he had to if the blood got too much for August. August nods.

"I think I'm ok" he says.

"Can you help him?" Fable asks.

"I've never done anything like this without Carlisle"

"You got this" Teague tells him "What do you need?"

"Erm… a knife, somewhere clean, some plastic tubing" August says.

"Get him to the kitchen there's knife's there, I'm sure I can find some kind of tube in the garage" Fable says then I felt myself be hoisted off of the ground.

I fell in and out f consciousness for the next few minuets, I felt Teague and August lay me down on the kitchen counter, I felt August make an incision under my left armpit and feed the tube in. I remember August shouting at someone to get a bowl before the blood he was draining went everywhere then I remember Fable's lips against my wrist.

I was too tired to open my eyes so with what energy I did have left I turned my hand so I could stroke her face. She sighs, "Don't you fucking dare leave me now, we haven't had forever yet" she says and I laugh for a second but have to stop because it hurts.

"I'm not going anywhere" I whisper, my voice horse and my throat sore. "The pups?" I ask.

"They're safe; they're still upstairs I didn't want them to see you like this. They'd only get upset" she tells me and I nod best I can, that's understandable but I really want to see them. "August said your stable now and you should be able to sit up and move around a little bit in about four hours . I'll go get them then" she says and I smile.

"Your leg?" I ask.

"It's just a break Its healing already" she tells me.

"Fable? I'm sorry about Demitri. I'm sorry I never gave him a chance, I'm sorry I'll never get to thank him for taking care of you and the kids" I tell her and she lets out a quiet sob.

"I feel so guilty. I'm the one who involved him and he died for us, I hate myself for that" she cries.

"I didn't know Demitri well, but I know he'd have willingly given his life for you, he loved you Fable" I say

"I wish he hadn't, not because it was inconvenient and awkward for me or because it pissed you off but because it hurt him and that wasn't fair. He's a good person he'd deserved someone to love him back" she says with a sniff. I couldn't agree with her more, Demitri had risked his life and in the end given it to save my family, I could never thank him enough for that and wherever he was in spite of our differences and in spite of the fact we hated each other's guts, I hope he knew grateful I was. "Hey you still with me?" she says and I laugh.

"Told you I'm not going anywhere" I remind her.

"You scared the shit out of me you know that?" she tells me and I smile.

"Well it's about time I got you back, this is normally the other way around" I point out and she laughs. I feel her kiss me one last time before the darkness takes me.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Much to mine and it seemed everyone else's surprise Jake and some of the Cullen's showed up at around midnight. When Teague asked them what they were doing here they said they wouldn't leave us to face Hershel alone. Teague and I had looked at each other and laughed, Jasper and Emmet were very disappointed to hear they'd missed all of the fun.

I sat with Jake on the deck the next morning as he told me all about his daughter Kira. It was obvious to me now that both my own and Nessie's pregnancies had been made possible by Ivan and the injections he gave us. Whatever was in that syringe was the sole reason Sawyer, Raven and even Kira were even here. "So does Uncle Jake want to meet his niece and nephew" I ask him and he laughs. It was early but they wouldn't mind me waking them if it meant there was someone new to meet and play with. Besides it would be a distraction, all they really wanted right now was their Father. They were smart they knew he was hurt and they were desperate to see him

"Uncle?" he asks

"Well Teague, Kaden, Newt and Vayle have all called themselves uncles in front of me at some point today so yeah, I'm pretty sure you're one too" I laugh.

"I'd like that, and I'm glad Kira is going to have her aunt Fable around from now on" he says

"Me too, I can't wait for Ness and the others to get back so I can meet her" I smile

"They're getting the next flight out" he tells me as we head inside.

Skar was still sleeping off a punctured lung on the sofa, other than the few hours on the uncomfortable lumps and bumps of the staircase I don't think he'd gotten much sleep since me and the children got here, he must have been exhausted. I was too but I refused to sleep until he was awake and I was one hundred percent certain he was okay.

The twins were already awake and sat up in bed crossed legged and holding hands, they were talking in their heads again. "Hey? What's the big secret?" I ask. They glance at each other than at me.

"Momma? Why hasn't Uncle Demitri caught us up yet? We're not moving anymore" Sawyer asks me.

"Isn't he tracking us?" Raven asks. Demitri has been with us since the twins were more, they know him and love him right down to calling him 'Uncle Demitri' how the hell was I supposed to tell them he wasn't going to find us this time? They might be growing fast and maturing at the same rate but they hadn't even been on this earth a year yet. How did I even begin to explain death to them, they were so young. I'd told them of people that had died, but nobody had ever died that they actually knew before.

"Uncle Demitri stayed behind with those bad vampires so we could get away do you remember?" I ask them and the nod together. "There were a lot of bad vampires and as skilled as he was there was just too many for Demitri to face alone"

"Is he hurt like Daddy?" Raven asks me and I have to take a second to compose myself to keep from crying in front of them.

"No Baby, I know this is hard for you to understand but…" I paused trying to pick the right words I didn't want to lie to them that definitely felt like something I shouldn't do but I didn't want to overload them with truth either. "I have you to tell you something very sad, come here, come and sit with me" I tell them and they both scurry down the bed and snuggle into me. "Uncle Demitri died. He gave his life so we could live. He was very brave and very strong but there were too many and he couldn't fight them all no matter how much he wanted to" I say to them, they're silent for what feels like a long time.

"How?" Sawyer finally says "He's a vampire; Vampires are super hard to kill"

"That's true, but think about how many were chasing us? He was up against impossible odds, we're lucky any of us made it here" I tell them.

"But vampires can be put back together can't they Momma?" Raven asks "If he's broken why can't someone fix him?" What did I say to that, did I tell her we didn't know where the rest of him was? That his body had probably been burnt and his head just kept as a trophy.

"It's too late to fix him, when someone dies it means you can't fix them. Do you know what dead means?" I ask them and they both nod.

"It's when you go to sleep for a really long time" Sawyer says and I shake my head.

"It's not sleeping Baby, when a person is dead they can't sleep, it's like they're asleep but they're not because they're body doesn't work anymore. Their body decides its time and everything just stops working. Their heart and their lungs and their brain. So they don't eat or move or sleep or feel, so they can't feel pain" I say and the nod again.

"Momma I'm sad" Sawyer whispers.

"I know Baby, so am I" I say and hug them both tighter.

"Will we ever see him again Momma?" Raven asks me and I sigh.

"You'll see him in here" I tell her and point to her heart.

"Inside me?" she asks and Sawyer sits up straight with a confused frown

"The people we love and lose live inside of us, in our hearts because we loved them, that never stops, and in our memories because nothing can take that away. Do you understand?" I ask and after a few minutes they smile sadly at me and nod.

They didn't cry and they didn't ask any more questions in fact they were eager get up for the day, but they were kids they just deal with things differently than we do. When I told them Jake was here they were doubly eager to get down stairs, after all they'd heard so much about him and now they were about to have a face to go with the stories. I took them out onto the back deck so not to disturb Skar where they chatted and played with Jake. As soon as they hit the bottom step they bolted in the direction of the sofa eager to see Skar, I had to hiss across the room to keep them from just diving on him. He'd almost choked to death yesterday on his own blood the last thing he needed was two excitable children bouncing up and down on his chest.

Jake told Sawyer and Raven all about Kira and they were really excited to meet someone not only like them but also their age too. They'd never even really met another child before.

"Jake? What the hell are you doing here you should be with your girls" Skar says from behind us, I spin around shocked and the children squeal his name with delight. They jump up abandoning Jake mid sentence and run straight for Skar. They dive on him and he laughs easily scooping them up one perched on each arm like they're weightless.

"I came to pull your ass out of the fire" Jake laughs.

"Yeah well you were late" Skar tell him and they both chuckle. The kids hug themselves into him and I realize Sawyer's crying. "Hey little man what's wrong?" Skar asks him.

"I don't want you to stop working" Sawyer sobs. Skar looks up at me confused and I sigh.

"I told them about Demitri" I say quietly and he nods.

"I'm right here bud, I'm not going anywhere" Skar tells him.

"Promise?" Sawyer and Raven say in unison, Skar nods and looks right at me.

"I Promise"

The next day Jake came over again with Ness and Kira in tow this time, the door opened, they didn't bother to knock and Ness Blurred into the house, she stood before me with this crazy smile of her face, she screamed ear splittingly loud then dove on me, practically hugging the life out of me. Jake walked in a second later with a little girl the same size as Raven in his arms. She had copper red hair like Ness's and brown eyes so dark they were nearly black, she was gorgeous. "Oh my God Fable they look just Skar" Nessie whispers to me looking at Sawyer and Raven and I smile.

"Hey guys" Jake says to Sawyer and Raven and kneels down in front of them "This is Kira" He tells them. They both look to me for direction and I laugh.

"Well say hi" I tell them.

"Hi Kira" they say together, Kira looks to her Mom then Dad then buries her face in Jakes neck.

"She's shy" Ness says and I nod, so is Raven at first. Skar was watching Sawyer intently with an amused smile on his face, I looked at Sawyer and he was just staring at Kira.

"Jake are you seeing this?" Skar says not taking his eyes of Sawyer

"What?" Jake asks as he looks up, he looks at Sawyer and grins. "You owe me fifty bucks" Jake tells Skar.

"What is it?" I ask and Jake and Skar both smirk.

"Did he…" Ness trails off.

"I think so" Jake smiles. And then I finally realized what happened, Sawyer could already shift but Kira couldn't. He'd just practically imprinted on Kira, but none of us knew for sure without seeing Sawyer's thoughts. And even though Sawyer and Raven could both shift they didn't have the mind link to the pack, we thought that might come later when they were older and joined the pack fully. It looked like whenever that happened Sawyer would imprint on Kira.

"Momma what's going on?" Raven asks me and I smile at her

"Nothing Baby" I tell her.

"Sawyer?" Skar asks and Sawyer turns to look at him "You okay bud?"

"I don't know" Sawyer says with an almost vacant expression on his face. Sawyer turns back to Jake and Kira and slowly walks over to them. Kira peeks up at him and I swear it's the cutest thing I've ever seen. "Hi" he says to her, smiling a huge smile.

"Hi" she whispers shyly. "What's your name?"

"Sawyer" he tells her "this is my sister Raven" Sawyer says grabbing Raven by the elbow and pulling her over to stand next to him "We're twins"

"Twins?" Kira asks as if she's unfamiliar with the word.

"It means we were in our mom's tummy at the same time" Sawyer says

"How did that happen? Do you have to do something special to get two babies instead of one?" Kira asks

"I don't know" Sawyer admits he turns to look at Skar "Daddy? What do you have to do to get two babies instead of one?" Skar stares at our son for a second not knowing what the hell to say while Ness and I try not to laugh.

"You don't do anything, sometimes it just happens. It's like the weather sometimes it snows but most of the time it doesn't" Skar says and the children look at him while they ponder that. They seem satisfied. i think Skar's just glad they didn't ask him how you get a baby in the first place.

"Daddy said you can turn into wolves like he can?" Kira asks.

"Yeah! I look awesome just like my Dad. We're both silver. Raven is too except she's got a pink nose" Sawyer tells her.

"Pink's my favorite color" Raven whispers scowling at her brother and Kira looks at her.

"Mine too" Kira says

"Pink's okay I guess. I like red better" Sawyer says. "Momma can we go outside and show Kira our wolves?"

"Only if Kira wants to, and don't wreck your clothes" I tell them. They'd gone through all the ones I'd brought with me, mostly by accidently shifting while they were playing. I'd have to go to the store soon and stock up on new ones.

The three of them ran outside giggling and I knew in that moment those three were gonna be inseparable from now on. Kira and Raven came out of their shells a little more as the day wore on until they were happily talking and playing together. Sawyer kept muscling his way in-between them and trying to strike up a conversation with Kira, I think he felt left out. Sawyer was completely smitten with Kira and it was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen. Later that night when Skar and I took the twins up to bed Sawyer still couldn't shut up about her. They insisted Skar tuck them in so I stood in the door and watched. "So you liked her huh?" Skar chuckles as our son finally takes breath and stops talking, Sawyer nods eagerly.

"Isn't she pretty Daddy?" Sawyer asks and Skar smiles.

"Yes, very pretty"

"Dad do you think Kira thinks I'm pretty too?" Sawyer asks and Raven giggles.

"Sawyer there's no such thing, boys aren't pretty" Raven laughs.

"Dad what's the opposite of pretty?" Sawyer asks.

"Ugly" Raven says.

"Raven" Skar cautions.

"I mean if Momma's pretty what are you?" he asks, Skar thinks for a second then turns to look at me.

"What do you think Momma?" Skar smirks at me.

"Handsome" I say smiling at him. He grins then turns back to the kids.

"Okay, so do you think Kira thinks I'm handsome?" Sawyer asks.

"Of course she does Baby" I tell him. "You're very handsome, you look just like your Daddy"

"Will I look like you when I get bigger Momma?" Raven asks and I shake my head

"Prettier" I tell her and she smiles. Skar makes them both lie down and kisses their foreheads. They both call goodnight and Skar wraps his hand around my hip and guides me out of the room. I sigh and rest my head on his shoulder.

"You're tired, Fable how long have you been awake for?" Skar asks me and I shrug.

"About forty eight hours I guess" I say and he sighs. He dips his knees and picks me up then starts to head down stairs. "Skar I can walk you're hurt" I protest but he chuckles.

"I'm healed" he says then sits on the sofa with me still in his arms, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep and I think he joined me fairly soon after.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

After a few days things seemed almost normal again, or atleast as normal as they could be now that I had a son and a daughter running around the house. In the heat of the moment it had seemed like everything was falling into place easily for me and Fable. But when the drama died down it was harder for us to grow back together. It was taking time but I was okay with that, she was here and we had our family the rest would follow.

This morning while she and the children were at the Cullen's I'd tidied and cleaned our old bedroom so it was no longer coated in dust and unused. It was back to the way it was before Fable had left I'd even gone to the trouble of replacing the broken bathtub. There would be no more nights sleeping on the sofa for me and Fable.

I had Patrol with Teague until twelve and the children would probably be in bed by the time I got home, I hated that I'd barely gotten to see them today and I could see why Jake hadn't wanted the responsibility of Alpha now that he was a Father. But if one day Sawyer and Raven would join the pack there's no way I wasn't going to be right there with them.

Patrol was uneventful, other than Teague bitching that Whitley was dating some cop from the station in Forks. I didn't get it he liked her, he wanted her, he was blatantly in love with her and he knew how she felt about him why wouldn't he just go for it already. It was a shame they were still yet to work things out. Teague had finally got his head sorted out and realized he wanted to be with Whitley just when she'd gone and given up on him and started dating new people instead. I felt for the guy but he'd also brought it on himself.

When I got home the top floor was in darkness, but there was still some light emitting from the kitchen so I knew Fable was still awake. I trotted over to the house and phased fishing a pair of jeans out of the basket on the deck. I smelt grilled cheese as soon as I opened the back door and I smiled. Fable had done this in the past if I was getting off patrol late and she was still awake she'd make me something to eat ready for when I got in the door.

I turned the corner into the kitchen and saw her stood there with her back to me at the stove. She was wearing a pair of denim short shorts and one of my t-shirts so big it fell off her shoulder revealing her soft creamy skin. She hadn't even heard me come in or noticed me yet, Fable was as skilled and powerful as any wolf or she had been back when she could still phase. Her sense of smell was unbelievable when she put her mind to it and she could see in the dark better than I, but her hearing was barely any better than a regular human. I walked up behind her and pressed my lips to her bare shoulder, she tensed for half a second then realized it was me and leaned back against me.

She sighed deeply and happily as I brushed all of her hair to one side. I moved my lips up to her neck and grinned when I felt her tremble. "The kids didn't want to go to sleep until you got home, they fought it so hard but they couldn't keep their eyes open past ten" she smiles and I chuckle.

"I'm gonna make it so I have to do as few late patrols as possible" I tell her and take her ear lobe gently between my teeth.

"You're the Alpha, you have to do what you have to do, the kids will get used to it" Fable tells me.

"I don't want them to have to get used to it, I wanna be here" I sigh.

"I know" she whispers and lifts her hand to stroke the stubble of my jaw; I turn my face into her touch and kiss her palm. I turn her hand over with my own and kiss the back, then her knuckles then each finger tip one at a time. "Something happened today" she says and I tense worried what it could be "Have you been phased with Vayle at all today?" she asks me and I shake my head.

"No, why?"

"He came over with your bike keys, said you lent it to him a while back and then I got here and with the fight with Hershel... he hadn't had time to bring it back" she says and I nod.

"I was starting to think I was never getting it back" I laugh. "So what's wrong? Is there something wrong with the bike?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"No. Sawyer was shouting me from upstairs, I was only out of the room for a second so I don't know for sure that it happened but when I came down he was sat with Raven on his lap while she taught him how to braid hair and he was looking at her with this goofy smile of his face like she was the most precious thing in the world" Fable says, and I feel my eyebrows rise.

"He imprinted on her?" I ask.

"I don't know I wasn't in the room but I think so. He left before I could talk to him and to be honest he looked kind of freaked out. Probably thinks he's gonna get his ass kicked for imprinting on the Alpha's daughter" Fable sighs and I laugh.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow" I tell her and she nods.

"How do you feel about that?" she asks me and I shrug my shoulders.

"Vayle's a good kid; he's a lot like Seth in many respects. I guess if any of the guys might end up dating my daughter I'd pick him" I say.

"But he's seventeen"

"Yeah and Raven will be one day whether we like it or not. Wouldn't you rather she ended up with someone we know and trust and not some horny little punk with a Cadillac?" I say and she laughs.

"Depends what year the Cadillac is" she shrugs and I laugh. That's one of the things I love about Fable she could set my blood on fire with want and desire one second and having me laughing the next. I loved that she could make me laugh. I loved that she could take the piss out of herself and that she took the piss out me too, it was win win.

I couldn't stop myself or hold myself back anymore. I stroke my hands down her sides and grip her hips firmly. I pull her against me more and grin at the feel of her perfect little ass against me. I pushed my hips forward and Fable's head fell back against my shoulder in a moan. I kissed her neck and shoulder as I felt my way around to the button of her shorts. I flicked the little button open then let the material hit the floor.

I spin her around so our chests are forced together and I toy with the hem of the T-shirt she's wearing. I attack her lips unable to wait any longer, our lips move in sync like we were never out of practice, like she never went away. One of her hands weaves into my hair the other feels the muscles of y back. She tugs at my hair and I growl, she knows I love it when she does that. My hairs a little long now, I haven't cut it once in the eighteen months she was gone. Her hair's longer too; I like it like that, I like that when it's down it come right down to the small of her back. I take her hair in my hand so I'm holding it in a loose pony tail then pull her head back so I can kiss her neck some more. "I like your hair long" I tell her then scrape my teeth over her throat. She whimpers.

"I like yours long too" she pants and brings her other hand up to play with my hair. I pull the T-shirt over her head and I love that she has nothing on underneath. Damn my girl is sexy. I grind my hips against hers and she bites her lips to keep from crying out.

Tucking one finger into her lacy panties I push them down and I hear her heart speed up even more. Once I have her naked in the middle of our kitchen I reach behind her and turn the stove off. "Skar?..." she starts but I put my thumb over her lips to quiet her. I already know what she's going to ask me. She's worried about us being caught by the kids. They're asleep I can everything that's happening in this house, we're not gonna be disturbed. So I tell her that and kiss her picking her up so she wraps her legs around me.

I turn with her in my arms and sit her on the kitchen island, reaching for my zipper the second I set her down. I grab her by the backs of her knees and pull her to the edge of the counter pressing myself against her entrance. I dip my head and take her nipple in my mouth, flattening my tongue and dragging it over the little erect bud. She whimpers and gasps, softly cursing and I switch to the other breast. "Oh God Skar please?" she begs and I chuckle darkly.

"Patience" I tell her and she moans.

"It's been so long, you don't know how much I need you" she breathes. I take my length in my hand and tease the head over her clit, she cries out and I grin. "Skar?"

"What?" I ask with a laugh, I know very well what. Fable pouts in frustration. "Look at me" I tell her and then I finally give her what she wants. I told her to look at me but I'm the one breaking our stare, I find my eyes rolling into the back of my head in the ecstasy of it all, it just feels so fucking good to be back here. Sheathed inside her as deep as I can get.

We're desperate for this and there's no need for taking anything slow or holding back. It's rough and fast and sweaty and honestly it's fucking amazing, I swear it's never been like this. It's perfect; it's exactly what we both need. And in that moment when she falls apart and takes me with her moaning my name, I know that it's right and that everything is how it's supposed to be.

I carried her upstairs afterward, she asked me where I was taking her a couple of times but I just kept smiling _as if I could stop_ and said nothing. She frowned at me with this funny look on her face when I stopped outside of our bedroom door. I guess she hadn't been in here today so she didn't know I'd fixed and cleaned everything up.

When I pushed the door open she smiled at me and her eyes filled with tears. "Thank you" she whispers then pulls my lips against hers. I push the door shut quietly with my foot and carry her to the bed where we make love twice more.

Lying in bed later that evening as I caressed her nakedness, Fable turned to me with a shy smile on her lips. I cocked an eyebrow at her wondering what she was up to. "I've been thinking… I never did give you an answer to that question did I?" she says and I smile so wide I think my face might crack in two. She bites her lip and I shake my head slowly from side to side.

"No, you didn't" I say. "So?" I ask

"I'll marry you" she whispers with the most beautiful smile on her face. I let out a little laugh half nervous half excited.

"You mean that?" I ask and she giggles.

"I mean it" she nods. I laugh, giddy with the fact she just agreed to marry me, it feels like I've just won the greatest prize that could ever be won. I roll on top of her and her smile matches mine. I don't remember ever being happier except maybe once, the moment Fable came back to me and I realized those two little wolf cubs were ours, but it's hard to tell which memory is my favorite.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Nervous didn't seem like the right word, I felt way past nervous. This felt like about six stops after nervous and now the train was a run away. I was stood upstairs in my bedroom looking at myself in the floor length mirror. It was hard to believe the wedding was already here, but these last six months have just flown by.

My hair was pinned back over one ear so it fell in loose curls over one shoulder. No veil or tiara just little white flowers dotted here and there amongst the wavy tendrils. My make up was simple, just enough to define my eyes and make them a prettier shape and of course I'd left my iris's purple today, for Skar. The dress was stunning, a strapless gown in a dusty pink color, I fell to my mid thigh and all over it the fabric was twisted into little roses. It was perfect I knew that the second I saw it, I had no idea who Vera Wang was or why Ness and Alice almost died when they read her name on my dress, but she sure made beautiful dresses.

Someone knocked at the door and I took a deep breath before telling them they could come in. Micah poked his head around the door. "Are you ready? Everyone's waiting for you" he smiles at me.

I gulp then nod "As ready as I'll ever be"

"You're not nervous are you?" Micah asks and I laugh.

"And what would give you that idea?" I say, he smirks.

"well your knees are shaking for one, and is that a bead of sweat I see?" he teases. I shake my head at him and roll my eyes.

"Asshole" I mutter under my breath.

"Heard that" he laughs.

"So you ready or what?"

"Why am I so nervous? I love Skar, I want this" I say and Micah smiles.

"I know that and so does Skar so just try and relax okay" Micah tells me and I nod.

"Yeah okay, I just don't wanna mess up. He wanted this long before I realized that I did too and I really don't want to disappoint him by fucking up somehow" I sigh. Micah smiles at me and squeezes my shoulder reassuringly.

"You're not gonna fuck up Fable. This wedding's gonna be perfect" he says and I smile. "You wanna know why?" he asks.

"Why?"

"Because you two are perfect for each other and not because of an imprint or a sprit" he says "Hell you two are a fucking tornado half the time, but the other half of the time it's perfect" he says and I smile, he was right.

"Yeah it is" I say and giggle a little bit to myself.

"Do you think Dad would have liked him?" Micah asks me halfway down the stairs. I ponder it for a second would Gabriel have like Skar? Gabe never liked anyone at first it usually took a long time before he'd let his walls come down. But everyone loved Skar he was a good friend and kind, you could trust him and you could count on him Gabe would have liked that. It's just a shame they never had a chance to meet.

"Yeah I think they would have been friends" I say and Micah smiles.

We stop at the glass doors that lead onto the deck were everyone is waiting outside, I see Skar waiting at the top with Jasper and Teague. Ness and Gypsy stood opposite them and Jake in the middle waiting to marry us. They're all smiling excitedly at me and I smile back. I can tell from the back of Skar's head that he's smiling, so I gulp back my fear and let Micah lead me down the aisle.

I scan the rows of guests and spot Sawyer and Raven in the front row. Sawyer was sat snuggled in-between Esme and Carlisle and Raven was sat in Vayle's lap. But of course, Vayle was practically Raven's bodyguard these days, as soon as they were in the same room together she was on his lap or on his shoulders and if he ever actually let her walk anywhere his massive hand was wrapped around her tiny one. Skar didn't mind too much, he said spending time with Raven made Vayle a lot calmer when he was phased but I was still finding it a little annoying.

I t seemed like the children had stopped growing at such a rapid speed now, Carlisle had been monitoring them closely like he had been Kira but ever since they're first birthday their growth seemed to slow down to almost normal.

Micah and I came to a stop in front of Skar and he looked so happy it made my heart swell, and then I really knew this was exactly how things were supposed to be.

The after party was perfect Alice and Ness had really out done themselves. I was sat at one of the tables with a smile watching Skar chat with Jake he had Raven in his arms, hugging herself into his neck while Jake laughed loudly at something Skar had said. Sawyer was chasing Kira around their feet. Micah walked over and took the empty seat next to me. "What's the bride doing over here all alone?" Micah asks.

"Just watching everyone, our friends, our family. The kids, my husband" I giggle with a big grin on my face. Micah sighs and relaxes into his chair.

"Yep, life's pretty perfect huh?" he says with a grin, I nod my head in agreement.

"Yep, pretty perfect"

Micah extends his hand to me and stands up "Dance?" he ask me and I smile at him.

"I would love to dance" I tell him and let him guide me over to the floor where most of the guests already were. I danced with my little nephew for a few songs in silence just watching the party and enjoying this feeling of calm. Everything was okay now and it was finally going to stay that way. Micah wasn't a bad dancer but he wasn't great either and I found myself chuckling at that.

"What are you laughing about?" he asks me and I smile.

"Oh nothing" I say and he rolls his eyes with a sigh.

"Alright well put your serious face on I have something to tell you" he says and I turn to him wondering what it might be. "Roshni got into Stanford" he says and I smile.

"Wow that's great" I say and Micah nods.

"And I'm gonna move to California with her while she's at school" he tells me. I smile at him I never expected him so say anything less.

"I'm really happy for you Mich" I tell him and he hugs me.

"I'm gonna tell her everything tonight, hopefully she'll still want me to come when she knows I'm a shape shifter" he laughs nervously.

"You'll be fine" I tell him and he smiles.

"Thanks Fable"

"Mind if I cut in?" Skar says from behind me I turn to him and smile.

"Of course" Micah laughs "I didn't mean to monopolize the bride" he says then heads in the direction of the buffet table. Skar wraps his arm around my waste and pulls me close he slides his hands up and down my back for a few seconds then slides them into the proper positions one at my hip the other holding my hand. I frown at him confused and he grins back at me.

"What?" he asks.

"What is this? I thought you didn't dance" I say and he laughs a little.

"Well my wife really likes to dance at these sorts of things" he smirks "So I learnt" he tells me and my eyes widen as he starts to move me about the dance floor with a surprising amount of skill.

"Learnt?" I ask still a little shocked. He twirls me around with an outstretched arm then pulls me swiftly back against his chest.

"Jasper taught me a few moves" Skar says with a shrug of his shoulder and my eyebrows shoot right up. I giggle only able picture Skar and Jasper waltzing about the Cullen's living room.

"Jasper taught you? I'd have paid good money to see that" I says and he chuckles.

"Shut up" he tells me then dips me low to the floor and kisses me. Apparently our guests notice because they all start clapping and cheering. Somewhere in the background I hear Emmett shouting 'Yeah baby!' and everyone laughs.

Skar and I stayed in each other's arms on the dance floor all night even after most of the guests had gone home, we even saw Teague and Whitley leaving together, until a sleepy Raven walked over to us and tugged on the hem of my dress. I looked down at her and she was rubbing her eye with her tiny fist. "Momma I'm tired and Sawyer's asleep" she tells me with a yawn. I bend down and scoop her up balancing her on my hip, Skar strokes Raven's hair as she yawns again.

"Okay Baby, time for bed" I scanned the tables for Sawyer and saw his little dress shoes sticking out from under the table cloth. Skar was already one step ahead of me.

"I'll get him" he says. I follow Skar over to the table and he draws the cloth back and under the table Sawyer and Kira were snuggled together on a pile of cushions they'd stolen from the sofa. Skar stood up from under the table with Sawyer asleep on one shoulder and Kira asleep on the other.

"Where are Nessie and Jake?" I wonder out loud looking around for them. Skar squints like he's really concentrating; I know he's listening for them. His eyes suddenly widen.

"They're in the garage" he says and I frown.

"What are they doing in the gar…" I trail off as Skar give me a look "Oh" is all I can say. I couldn't blame them having a decent sex life was hard once you were a parent, Skar and I had quickly found that out sometimes you had to do it when and wherever you could. One time Skar and I had resorted to going at it in the back seat of his mustang after dropping the kids off a kindergarten unable to wait to have each till we got home. The kitchen counter had also become a personal favorite of ours that and friend's bathrooms. So we didn't disturb Ness and Jake, after all when Skar and I left for our honeymoon in the morning Jake and Ness would be babysitting for us for a week. We tucked the kids in upstairs, Kira too then retreated back down stairs. it had been a long day and we were both tired. Skar looked at his watch and groaned.

"What?" I ask.

"We have to leave for the airport in five hours" he tells me and I throw my head back and huff. Skar chuckles. "Come here?" he says and I go to him. He pulls me into his chest and holds me tight kissing my hair.

"Is there any point even going to sleep?" I laugh.

"Yeah, you're gonna need it once we get there?" Skar says.

"Why what have you got planned I thought we were going to relax" I yawn.

"What do you think I have planned" he chuckles then tilts my head up to kiss me.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Carlisle and Esme had kindly bought Fable and I plane tickets and allowed us full use of Isle Esme for a wedding gift. I was going to miss the children like crazy but it was after all our honeymoon and I was hoping to spend it with Fable in little to no clothing not running around after two children and getting dove on at six o'clock in the morning every morning. I'd forgotten what sleeping in felt like. And the sun was gorgeous a far cry from rainy La Push.

When I woke up on our first morning there I was in the bed alone, a warm breeze blowing in from the open doors that led out onto the beach. I stretched and felt the sheets, they were still slightly warm Fable hadn't been out of bed long. When we'd gotten here last night it had been so late and we'd both been so tired that I'd carried her in then we'd crashed to the bed falling asleep almost instantly. It was already so hot here and my body temperature so high that we'd shredded our clothes piece by piece until we were just laid together naked.

I rolled out of the bed feeling refreshed and not even a little tired, I must have slept for a really long time I scanned the room for a clock but saw none, but I did spot my watch on the nightstand. I swiped it up and saw it was almost two, wow I really had been asleep for a long time, it wasn't morning at all.

I padded barefoot on the cool tiles over to my suitcase; Fable's was next to it already laid open and rummaged through. I slipped on a pair of bottle green board shorts and nothing else; it was too hot to bother with a t-shirt.

As I stepped out of the door the heat him me, a warm breeze and salty sea air. I saw Fable sat with her back to me watching the waves at the shore line so I walked over to her loving the feel of the warm white sand under my toes. I sat down behind her so I had a leg either side of her and I pulled her to lean back against me.

She sighs content and turns her head to look at me. "Morning" I say planting a soft kiss on her lips.

"Afternoon" she smirks and strokes her hand over my stubble.

"Sorry I slept so long" I tell her and she shrugs.

"It's okay, I only just woke up myself" she says. "Isn't it beautiful here?" she asks me and I nod.

"It's gorgeous" I agree. "Do you wanna go in the water?" I ask hoping she'll say yes because I really want to.

"Skar you know I'm terrified of water" she reminds me and my shoulders slump, right she's a cat, cat's hate water. Then I get an idea.

"Do you trust me?" I ask and she gives me a funny look.

"You know I do" she smiles at me

"Do you love me?" I ask and I get the same look

"Yes" she tells me and I grin.

"Then come in the water with me?" I say and her eyes grow wide with fear. "Fable I would never let anything happen to you" I tell her and she gulps.

"I know but…"

"Just think of it like a bath, I'll have hold of you the whole time" I say

"Yeah a really big bath" she sighs. "You won't let go of me?" she asks and I shake my head "Even for a second?"

"Never" I tell her and with a deep breath she stands up. She's dressed in a little red bikini and I can't stop my eyes from darting all over her body. I pick her up and settle her around my waste heading for the water. As soon as I step into the surf she panics and grabs hold of me as tight as she can her legs and arms clinging onto me as tight as possible.

After about half an hour she finally starts to relax even letting me swim about with her on my back. She can't swim to save her life and if she thinks I'm not holding onto her tight enough she stats to flail and panic until she crushed against my chest and feels safe again.

I feel her lips against my ear lobe as I tread water keeping us afloat about twenty feet out from the beach. Her teeth tug on it gently then she kisses along my jaw, she lets her lips ghost over mine then kisses her way up to m other ear. Slowly one arm unwinds itself from around my neck and her fingers start to trail down my chest until she reaches the waistband of my shorts. She kisses me hard on the mouth and her hand slips inside, her delicate fingers wrap around me then pull me free of my shorts. Stroking me up and down while she sucks on my bottom lip. "I think we should go ashore now" she says and I nod eagerly.

I stuff myself back inside my pants and start swimming back to the beach as fast as I can with Fable slung across my back like a baby monkey. As soon as we're on the beach and she's back on her feet Fable takes over her hands everywhere her tongue in my mouth controlling the kiss just how she wants it and I let her. My back hit's the sand and she leans over me on her hands and knees. She kisses me like this for a little while with her hand inside my shorts until she has me thrusting my hips up off of the ground and on the border of begging her for more.

Fable sits up her centre rubbing against my achingly hard erection; I moan my head falling back against the soft sand for a second at how good that feels. When I look back at her, her hands are behind her back untying the strings of her bikini, she smirks this sexy smile at me and I stroke my hands up her stomach. She pulls the bikini top away and I cover her breasts with my hands. Her eyes drift closed and she moans. I start to tweak and roll her nipples between my finger and thumb and watch as her hands start to travel down her own body to the bikini bottom strings at her hips. I quickly start to remove my own bottoms shoving them roughly to my ankles and kicking them off desperate to be naked with her, dying to be inside of her.

Fable moves down my body and takes me in her mouth, sucking and kissing and dragging her tongue along my length. I hiss in pleasure as she comes up for air and twirls her tongue around the tip. "Easy Kitten, slow down" I tell her. I don't want to come yet that would be embarrassing, and the rate she's going I'm gonna come really soon. She sits up with a wicked grin on her face and before I can say anything else she slowly pushes down on me until I'm completely inside of her. We both cry out, it feels so tight and deep this way.

A little while later Fable moans above me and throws her head back then she pulls away leaving me wanting. I'm breathing too heavily to talk and all I can do is frown at her and moan like a puppy. She giggles a sound that I love and then stands up completely naked standing over me. "Meet me inside" she whispers a little breathlessly and then starts sauntering in that direction.

"What!" I pant in disbelief, she looks at me over her bare shoulder and she looks positively devilish as she grins at me, she turns slightly and beacons me with her finger then keeps walking, swinging her hips the whole way. I think I nearly drooled.

I scramble to my feet and take after her; I couldn't care less that our clothes are being washed away with the tide right now. I catch up with her and my hands are on her hips and my lips are on her neck almost tripping her up as she walks. Fable laughs and places her hands over mine. We reach the bed and it's like I've lost all control I've taken a back seat and the wolf in me is in the driver's seat. She's wound me up to the point where I think I might go insane if I don't have her. I push her up against the post of the bed and bite her a little roughly on the shoulder, she doesn't seem to mind. I wrap her hands around the post and let one hand trail between her legs. I push one finger in and she moans my name, her hips start to circle and shift forwards. I clamp my free hand down on her hip to keep her still and she cries out again. I skim my hands up to her breasts and squeeze, lifting them slightly so they feel heavy in my hands. "Put your arms around my neck?" I tell her, she whimpers at the sound of my voice and does as I ask almost instantly. She buries her fingers in my hair and pulls on it, I moan and rest my fore head against the crook of her neck. I tilt her hips backward and position myself against her.

"Skar?" she begs and I grin. I reach up and take her hands and move them back to the bed post.

"Hold on tight Baby" I whisper in her ear, she trembles and I slam my hips forward filling her once more. I make love to her until her knees are weak and I'm practically holding her off the ground. I move her to the bed and hover over her kissing all of her face over and over again. I'm so in love with her, and I'm so happy. I push into her again slowly this time and a satisfied moan falls from her lips.

When we're both spent I lie on top of her not wanting to leave and when I move to pull away from her she moans in protest and wraps her arms around me to stop me. "Don't go anywhere" she whispers, she sounds completely exhausted, I know the feeling.

I roll over on to my back taking Fable with me, she settles onto my chest still joined together. Fable breathes in and she sounds as happy as I feel. Ever since we were stood in front of Jake at the wedding and he told me Fable was my wife I've been grinning like an idiot. I just can't stop myself I keep smiling and laughing at nothing at all other than the fact that I'm deliriously happy. "I just realized something" Fable giggles.

"What?" I ask.

"I know your first name now" she says and I frown, who the hell told her that, the only people who called me that were Carlisle and my Uncle Corbin. But I'd been very insistent that they weren't to call me that around Fable so who the hell had told her my name?

"How?" I ask her and she nuzzles into my chest.

"Do you Oskar Joseph Ambrosio take Fable Leigh Lushnovic to be your wife?" she reminds me and I curse under my breath. Damn it Jake had used my whole name during the ceremony. "So now I know" she sighs sleepily.

"So what do you think?" I ask.

"I like it, I don't know what your problem is with it" she says and I stiffen, she was my wife if I couldn't tell her who could I tell. I wasn't so sure it mattered too much now anyway since I met Fable I feel like I've sort of let go of the past. I'm not so angry about all the shit I went through when I was young, after my Dad died and I ended up living back with my birth mother. I used to think my Mother was an evil bitch but she wasn't, she was just an addict and a fucked up kid that was too young to be a Mother.

"I hate that name because it's what she named me" I whisper, Fable shifts and looks up at me.

"You're Mother?" she asks and I snort a laugh.

"Yeah, if you could call her that. Every time somebody calls me that it reminds me of living with her, and that was just a really shitty time in my life" I shrug. "I'd just lost my Dad and he was my favorite person in the world, it was before I came to live with my uncle, before I phased and had any real friends, before you" I say and she smiles at me. "And now I'm a Father… that still amazes me sometimes you know" I laugh "we're so fucking lucky"

"I know" Fable smiles. "We got two really good ones didn't we?"

"Yeah we did" I agree. And it's true Sawyer and Raven were perfect and I loved them so much, I loved all of my family and I still couldn't get over how lucky I was too have them.

"I miss them already" she sighs sadly and I squeeze her tighter.

"I know so do I" I say. "I love you" I tell her then pull her lips up to mine.

* * *

_So that's it folks, there will be an Epilogue (just one more chapter) but please let me know what you thought? thank you and well done to anyone still hanging in there, you really did bear with me. I love this couple but I'm moving on to other things and I'm glad they were my first. _


	29. Chapter 29

Epilogue

The game was into its second half, Sawyer and Kira were making out against the bleachers even though she was supposed to be stood with me and the other cheerleaders, as usual they couldn't keep their hands off each other, they were disgusting. Savannah Uley sighed next to me resting her pompom on her hip and flipping her blonde hair out of her eyes with a huff. "Sometimes I really hate Kira, the lucky bitch" Savannah sighed, I frowned at her and she laughed. "What? She's got Sawyer and you might not see it but your brother is super hot, I wish I had an imprint like that, hell I wish I had an imprint full stop" she says. I rolled my eyes.

"I thought you liked Aiden Vasquez?" I ask her.

"Well yeah, he's cute as hell but he's no wolf" Savannah says looking at me as if that were obvious.

"Trust me imprinting is not all it's cracked out to be" I tell her.

"Vayle still won't give it up huh?" she asks and I snort a laugh. Vayle had never even kissed me much less taken my virginity. I think if I ever asked him to actually make love to me he'd probably pass out and die. It wasn't like I hadn't approached him about this topic but he always blew me off or had somewhere to be. Either way we could never seem to actually discuss our relationship and whether or not it would ever change. I know he's a lot older than me and I know he's used to looking at me like a little sister but the truth was I just wasn't a little kid anymore. I was in my senior year of high school and I'd never even been kissed, it was shameful.

Sawyer and I were turning eighteen in a week and all I wanted for my birthday was a kiss from Vayle. I was ready for more, I was ready for us to start dating, I was ready for my first kiss. Just Vayle wasn't. "How you doing Darl?" says a familiar voice with and Aussie twang. I feel my body tense up, I know its Kane Voltori without looking. He must be staying with the Cullen's again; he and August Cullen were best friends. I mentally grumbled, Kane was nice and undeniably hot and he certainly seemed to like me, naturally my Dad hated him. I couldn't get my imprint Vayle to look twice and realize I was a woman now and not a girl and I couldn't get Kane to do anything but notice.

"Hey Kane" Savannah says batting her eyelashes at him.

"Savannah? We're supposed to be cheering" I tell her.

"I don't hear you telling Kira off" she mutters.

"How about keep cheering and ignore him or I'll tell your Dad you lost your virginity to Todd Kennedy" whisper to her, she gasps.

"You wouldn't, he'd ground me for life and he'd kill Todd!" she says wide eyed.

"Well you're just lucky Uncle Teague doesn't phase anymore or he really would kill Todd" I laugh. If Uncle Teague found out his fourteen year old daughter had given her v card to a fellow wolf in his back yard I'm pretty sure he'd kill Savannah too.

"Come on Darl you're not ignoring me are Ya?" Kane asks coming to stand next to me. I huffed and tried to do anything but look at him.

"I'm still not talking to you" I say keeping my eyes on the football game. Todd had just scored a touchdown then had to throw himself to the floor pretending he got hit when another player had tried to tackle him. That's the problem with being a wolf you had to act human if you wanted to play sports. At first my Dad had forbid it but when he saw how badly Todd wanted to play he made the exception.

"You're still mad about that?" Kane asks. I turn and glare at him.

"You used your ability one me, you slowed time and tried to steal my first kiss!" I snap at him.

"I thought it was romantic" Kane shrugs with a grin.

"It wasn't, it was cruel. That kiss isn't for you, it's for Vayle" I tell him through gritted teeth. Kane suddenly looks angry.

"That asshole doesn't even see you Raven! I see you" Kane says. Sawyer and Kira walk up behind Kane hand in hand and my brother looks at me concerned.

"Everything okay Rave?" he asks and I nod.

"Everything's fine. Kane was just leaving" I say. Kane stares me down for a few seconds then stalks away a little too fast for a human but thankfully all the humans here are too busy watching the game to notice.

I turned my attention back to the game. Todd runs ahead of the other players with the ball wedged firmly under his arm, he glances over his shoulder and realizes he's running faster than the other human's. I see the shock on his face. Then he fixes his mistake by tripping on purpose, just before he hits the ground he pitches the ball all the way to Curtis Lahote on the other end of the field. Curtis catches the ball effortlessly and scores the winning point. Savannah, Kira and I do our bit cheering the boys on and Sawyer snaps a few photographs, my brother always has a camera in his hands.

"Do you think Todd still thinks about that night?" Savannah asks with a dreamy expression.

"Probably" Kira laughs "It was like only six weeks ago"

"I know but his thoughts are always so guarded when we're phased" Savannah shrugs.

"Savannah do you like Todd?" I ask eyeing her skeptically

"No!" she says instantly and blushes furiously. Kira and I laugh

"I think you do" I say and she sighs.

"Okay so maybe I do, but it doesn't matter we're not imprinted so it's not like we can date. What if one of us meets our imprint it wouldn't be fair" Savannah says and she's right. Kira and I fall quiet after that and continue on our way to the parking lot.

There was an after game party on the beach that night and Kira and Savannah were getting ready at my house. It was one of the rare occasions where it was just us girls, Kira and my brother were normally inseparable and if Sawyer was around you could guarantee Todd and Curtis would be too.

Kira pulled up in my driveway in her brand new VW rabbit. It was candy apple red and a gift from her parents for her eighteenth birthday. I let us in the back door into the kitchen and Kira and Savannah follow me in. I could hear my parents giggling, then my Dad laughed loudly and my Mom squealed. I turned the corner and saw my Mom and Dad engaged in a lip lock, he had her pressed against the kitchen table with her leg hitched around his hip. Mom had one hand down the back of Dad's jeans and the other on his chest. They both looked up and smiled at us. "Hey girls" Mom says biting her lip and trying not to laugh. Dad stood up and helped Mom hop off the table.

"Hey princess" Dad says walking over to me and kissing my forehead, "Hey girls" he says to Kira and Savannah then walks over to the fridge and grabs a beer.

"Are you guys going to that beach party tonight?" Mom asks and I nod.

"Yeah that's okay right?" I ask

"Of course it is Baby, you learnt how to throw a punch from your Momma, you won't have any trouble" Mom winks at me and I laugh. "Besides the boys are going right?" she asks.

"Sawyer, Todd and Calvin are I don't know if Newt and Vayle are going though" I say secretly hoping I'll get to see Vayle tonight.

"Newt has patrol with Gypsy" Dad speaks up from the sofa. I suddenly felt disappointed, if Newt didn't come Vayle might not come, we were just kids to them, including me. But Micah was in town, he might talk Vayle into a beach party I thought to myself hopefully.

Kira and Savannah dressed me for the party they put me in neon green dress that was short at the front and long and flowing at the back it was strapless and showed off a lot of boob and thigh. Savannah said Vayle would love it, I had a feeling he would just tell me off for parading my body about town. Kira was wearing a similar dress that was a hater neck in blue with pink flowers and Savannah's was blue and white stripes and floor length.

As we pilled out of the door Dad called to me to make sure I didn't get too drunk. "Don't overdo the booze this time Princess!" Dad shouts from the sofa and I can hear the laughter in his voice. He's kidding; I've never been drunk in my life and my parent's know all my secrets, my Father's the pack Alpha you can't hide much from him.

"Skar!" My Mom laughs. "But seriously Baby if you're gonna drink make sure it's the good stuff" she grins at me.

"God your parents are so cool" Savannah sighs as she jumps into the backseat of Kira's car. Savannah's parents were sort of strict, her Mom was a cop who didn't take any shit and her Dad was… well he was Teague, overprotective and overbearing that about summed it up.

The party was already in full swing when we got there. Sawyer came jogging over to us and swept Kira up into hug and kissed her lips like he hadn't seen her in years. "Damn Angel you look awesome" Sawyer tells Kira pulling back to look her up and down.

"You like?" she asks twirling on the spot for him.

"Yeah I do" he says then pulled her back to him and locked his mouth over hers. Didn't you just hate people who were loved up while the rest of us slept alone at night? It sucked.

I spot Vayle pretty much instantly he was sat by the bonfire talking to my Uncle Micah and few other older guys I didn't know. Vayle was wearing tight jean cut offs with no belt and what looked like no underwear either and a red hoodie open revealing his sculpted chest and impressive abs. God he was so hot, that sexy grin, cute messy hair and warm chocolate brown eyes you could just melt into, and that happy trail, man every time I saw that thing I thought I was gonna collapse. He looked up and smiled when he saw me he winked at me then turned back to his conversation. Butterflies were unleashed in my stomach like they always were when Vayle winked at me. I don't get why he has to do that, he's not interested in me like that so why wink, I guess to him it was just friendly where as to me it made me feel like fanning myself before I passed out.

Micah looked in my direction and waved at me, he jogged over to me with a great big grin on his face. Micah may have a wife at home these days but he was still best friends with Newt and Vayle and wasn't too cool to still hang out with us when he was in town. "Hey Rave!" Micah shouts pulling me into a bear hug the second he gets up to me.

"Hey Mich, you look happy" I say with a laugh and he grins wider.

"I am"

"What's going on?" I ask and he wraps his arm around my shoulders walking me over to the bonfire where everyone else is.

"Roshni's pregnant" he whispers in my ear and I practically shriek in excitement. I dive on him and hug him tight.

"That's so great I'm so happy for you!" I practically gush and he nods in agreement.

"I know I'm so excited" he says and he looks like a giddy child. Then his face changes to serious. "Hey don't mention this to your folks though I haven't had chance to tell Fable yet" he says and I nod.

"Sure thing I can keep my thoughts to myself" I tell him. Micah smiles at me like he's really proud of me or something, "what?" I ask.

"nothing I just forget how grown up you are sometimes, your sensible and mature Raven and that's a lot more than can be said for your brother" Micah laughs and nods in Sawyer's direction. Todd and Calvin were holding Sawyer upside down over a beer keg on the other side of the bonfire. I rolled my eyes at him and we both laughed.

Sometime later I got bored of watching my friends either make out of get drunk, and I was tired of Vayle acting like I didn't exist so I wondered off down the beach enjoying the breeze and the moonlight. It wasn't long until I heard someone jogging behind me, I turned just as Vayle slowed to a walk next to me . "where you going?" he asks and I roll my eyes.

"Don't worry I wasn't going to go far" I sigh "_Dad" _I mutter sarcastically under my breath.

"What did you just call me?" Vayle asks moving to stand in front of me so I have to stop walking. I say nothing we both know he head me, he's a wolf. "That's not funny Raven" he says and frowns at me. "Are you mad at me or something?" he asks.

"Really what was your first clue Vayle!" I snap and push by him.

"Why?" he asks and I sigh, does he really not know? I stop and stand right in front of him taking his hands in mine.

"Look at me! Don't you see me? Do you really just see a little four year old kid?" I ask him. He stares at me blankly and says nothing. "Why can't you see me!" I shout at him on the verges of tears. I throw his hands down and head back to the bonfire; I just want to go home.

"Raven wait!" he calls but I don't stop "I do see you" he tells me and I stop walking but keep my back to him. "Do you have any idea how hard this is? To try and forget the fact I've known you your whole life. Try and pretend being attracted to someone you used to babysit is okay!" he says sounding exasperated. My eyes widen, He's attracted to me? That's news to me.

"You don't know what it's like for me either" I say "you don't know how crushing it is to be in love with someone who looks at you like a child" I half whisper half sob. "Someone who doesn't know if he wants you to be a friend or a little sister but certainly doesn't want you as a lover"

"Raven?" Vayle sighs "This is really difficult for both us, and I'm trying to wrap my head around this as quickly as possible for you, but its hard okay? I know our relationship is changing and I'm glad you're so sure of what you want but I'm not. Can't you just let me catch up?" he says. "You know I love you"

"Yeah you just don't know if you wanna be in love with me" I sigh.

"That's not it at all Raven and you know it" he tells me. I say nothing and feel him walk up beside me. "You came with Kira tonight right?" he asks and I nod. "Do you want me to take you home?" he asks. He knew I wanted to leave and we both knew Kira wouldn't want to go until Sawyer did.

Vayle drove me home in silence just the soft quiet music of the radio to break the silence. When we pulled up at my house the place was in darkness, it was safe to assume my Mom and Dad were in bed already I suppose it had just gone one in the morning, I was pretty tired myself. Vayle got out and walked me to the door he kept an arms length between us and that hurt, Vayle had never insisted on physical distance between us before. "You look really beautiful tonight Raven" he tells me and my eyes widen, Vayle had never said anything like that to me before "It's a nice dress" he adds and I notice his eyes are lingering on my legs.

"Thank you" I whisper

"Raven? If you don't tell me to stop I'm going to kiss you" Vayle says suddenly and my mouth falls open "so if you don't want me to you'd better say something quick" he tells me then strides over to me and grabs me either side of my face. His lips were soft and about as warm as the rest of him and they made my lips tingle. His mouth tasted like mint and was gentle yet passionate at the same time, I couldn't help but think he was holding back on me though I couldn't imagine kissing got any better than this. He sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and ran his tongue over it back then forth once. I moaned, an alien noise to me but what he was doing just felt so good, and so right.

He was panting a little bit when he pulled away from me; he rested his forehead against mine and kept his eyes closed as he breathed deeply. "You didn't tell me to stop" he whispers.

"You thought I would?" I ask and he sighs.

"I wanted you to be able to, I want you to have options Raven. You're young and kind and beautiful you could have any guy you want" he says.

"I want you" I tell him my voice a whisper. His eyes flash open, an emotion in them I haven't seen on Vayle's face before, desire. Then his lips were on mine again. He kissed me on my doorstep for what felt like a long time and when he pulled away and started to back away to his car without a word I felt my heart breaking, I didn't want him to go.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asks and I shrug.

"Nothing" I say and he smiles.

"I'm taking you out" he tells me "On a date"

"A date?" I repeat shocked.

"Yeah a date" he says. He takes a deep breath then jogs back to me and kisses me again. I grab hold of the sides of his hoodie tight not wanting him to go, not wanting him to ever stop kissing me. "Seriously Rave I need you to go inside now" he says staring me down with a serious look on his face.

"Ok" I say and step inside. I watch his car pull away through the window then all but float up the stairs to my room. All I keep thinking is I'll never get to sleep I'm way too excited about tomorrow now, and every day with Vayle after that.


End file.
